2026 US Open Semifinal Observations

Our 2026 US Open semifinal observations begin with a tournament that has finally delivered the drama, history, and heavyweight matchups this stage demands.

Aryna Sabalenka survived. Jessica Pegula escaped the struggle bus. Coco Gauff is still winning despite technical flaws that should have been fixed years ago.

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe are headed for an all-American semifinal. Alexander Zverev looks ominous. Karen Khachanov looks like he could run through a wall.

This is getting good.

Read on for my 2026 US Open semifinal observations, as part of our ongoing 2026 US Open coverage.

Aryna Sabalenka survives another battle

Aryna Sabalenka was pushed to the absolute limit by Linda Noskova.

Noskova took the defending champion the distance and forced her into a third-set tiebreaker. Sabalenka had to fight for every point.

And she survived.

She held her nerve. She held her serve. And when the match demanded that she produce her best tennis under pressure, she found enough of it to get through.

Afterward, Sabalenka admitted that she thought the match might already be gone. Maybe that freed her up.

She stopped worrying about the finish line, started going after her shots, and escaped.

Sabalenka is now the sixth woman in the Open Era to reach at least six consecutive US Open singles semifinals, joining Chris Evert, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Venus Williams and Serena Williams.

That is one hell of a list.

She has been dynamite all year. She dominated the Sunshine Double and has been one of the best players in the world from beginning to end.

The majors have been the missing piece.

Maybe this is the one.

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe give New York an all-American semifinal

Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe took very different roads to get here, but both roads were wild.

Tiafoe survived Alex Michelsen in five sets and a fifth-set tiebreaker in one of the biggest matches of his career.

Big Foe came through.

He is now just the second player in the Open Era to reach each of his first three career Grand Slam semifinals at the US Open, joining Kei Nishikori.

Three career Grand Slam semifinals.

All three in New York.

This place has become his place.

Then came the moment at the net.

Michelsen was crushed, and Tiafoe stayed with him. He embraced his countryman and spent time comforting him after one of the most painful losses of Michelsen’s career.

That mattered too.

Shelton’s route was even more dramatic.

He beat defending champion Carlos Alcaraz in five sets, in a fifth-set tiebreaker, in the wee hours of the morning.

Shelton is now just the second player in the Open Era to defeat the defending men’s singles champion at a Grand Slam via a fifth-set tiebreaker, joining Petr Korda at the 1997 US Open.

He also snapped Alcaraz’s 12-match winning streak in five-set matches at Grand Slam events.

That streak was tied with Bjorn Borg for the longest in the Open Era.

John McEnroe ended Borg’s streak at the 1980 US Open and went on to win the title.

Eerie.

Now Shelton gets Tiafoe.

One American will reach the US Open final.

And neither one backed into this thing.

Jessica Pegula wins fugly

If Tiafoe’s win was ugly, Jessica Pegula’s was fugly.

Pegula had a miserable time early against Emma Navarro.

Her serve was awful in the first set and wasn’t much better in the second. Navarro had her in serious trouble, and Pegula spent a good chunk of the match riding the struggle bus.

But she never quit.

She didn’t panic.

She kept competing. She hit brave shots when she absolutely had to. She survived a very dicey second set and then started hammering the ball once she got control of the third.

Apparently, this is what Pegula does.

Since the start of the decade, Pegula has recorded 48 comeback victories and 90 three-set wins at WTA level, the most of any player in both categories.

She also became the first player in the Open Era to reach her first four career Grand Slam semifinals after turning 30.

Evergreen indeed.

That is not luck.

That is a player who has spent years learning how to win when her best tennis isn’t there.

Sometimes semifinal runs are built on beautiful tennis.

Sometimes they’re built on surviving a mess.

Pegula survived the mess.

Now she gets Sabalenka.

Whoever developed Coco Gauff couldn’t develop a Polaroid

Coco Gauff is still winning.

And that might be the most remarkable part.

Gauff is an elite athlete. She is an elite competitor. Her movement is world-class, her court coverage is ridiculous, and she has the kind of fight that keeps her alive in matches that look like they should already be gone.

But the tennis itself is still far more complicated than it should be.

The forehand remains vulnerable.

The serve can still unravel.

Too many matches become technical and emotional survival exercises.

Whoever developed Coco Gauff couldn’t develop a Polaroid.

That line sounds harsh, but the point underneath it is serious.

How do you take an athlete this gifted and leave this much technical instability behind?

Gauff keeps winning despite flaws that should have been cleaned up years ago.

That is both a credit to her and an indictment of reckless, amateur-hour development.

The women’s semifinals are loaded

For all the drama, the women’s draw held.

The top four seeds have all reached a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time since Wimbledon in 2009.

At the US Open, it happened only once in the Open Era, back in 1975.

No Cinderella.

No surprise semifinalist.

The four players the draw said were the best are the four players left standing.

And the funny part is that they sure as hell did not all get here cleanly.

Sabalenka survived a war.

Pegula escaped the struggle bus.

Gauff fought through her usual technical adventure.

But they are still here.

Blockbuster is right.

Karen Khachanov looks like a specimen again

Karen Khachanov looks fit.

Really fit.

That matters because there was a stretch where he didn’t.

Against Alexander Blockx, Khachanov looked fresh as a daisy while Blockx was wrapped up like a mummy and calling for the trainer.

Khachanov just kept spinning wheels.

No fuss.

No panic.

No wasted energy.

He just kept making the next ball.

And then the next one.

And then the next one.

Blockx eventually retired in the third set, but the physical difference had already become obvious.

Khachanov looks like a specimen again.

He also continues a rare Grand Slam pattern.

Matteo Berrettini, Arthur Fery and Khachanov have now given us unseeded semifinalists at three consecutive majors, the first time that has happened since 2008.

Khachanov may be unseeded, but there is nothing soft about the matchup waiting on the other side.

Alexander Zverev looks ominous

Alexander Zverev crushed Botic van de Zandschulp in straight sets and barely had to spend anything physically.

That is exactly what you want before a Grand Slam semifinal.

Fresh legs.

Big serve.

Short night.

And now he gets Khachanov.

That matchup should be fascinating.

Khachanov looks physically rebuilt and willing to grind forever. Zverev has the bigger serve, the cleaner first-strike game, and comes into the semifinal looking fresh.

If Zverev handles his business, he is going to have to do it against a player who looks more than capable of making him earn everything.

And right now, Zverev looks like he means business.