Aryna Sabalenka will lose the No. 1 ranking to Elena Rybakina, but the US Open trophy is a different story. Rybakina can take that only by winning Saturday, and the two-time defending champion showed in the semifinals how serious she is about a three-peat.

Rybakina rallied past Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2. Sabalenka is No. 1 and Rybakina No. 2, but that changes Monday after Sabalenka held the top spot for 99 consecutive weeks. Rybakina beat Sabalenka to win the Australian Open to start the season.

"It's a lot of work, and yeah, that was one of my goals, but right now, not much I could do," Sabalenka said. "Elena took it over and played really well, and she took away No. 1 position."

Gauff jumped on Rybakina with a strong start, taking the first set in 38 minutes. "Took a deep breath, was trying to talk positive with myself and just told myself that I need to fight and try to show good tennis," Rybakina said. Gauff trailed 4-1 in the second set and battled back to 4-all before Rybakina won the next two games. Rybakina went ahead 5-3 and served for the match, but Gauff broke to give herself one more chance while being cheered by a crowd that included former first lady Michelle Obama.

"I thought it was a good match, and it honestly came down to a couple of service games of mine in both sets, and I didn't quite hold," Gauff said. "She does a great job of just being there every point and putting a lot of pressure on you on service game and return game."