The championship match in women’s singles, as well as in mixed doubles, will be played on Saturday.
Aryna Sabalenka will become the new World No.1 on Monday, and on Saturday she plays for her second hard court Major title of 2023. But standing in her way is the WTA’s hottest player of the summer, Coco Gauff, who is playing for her first Major title at the age of 19. Who will win this blockbuster final: the best player of the year, or the best player of the summer?
And in the mixed doubles championship match, it will be Jessica Pegula and Austin Krajicek (1) vs. Anna Danilina and Harri Hellovaara. This is a first Major final in this discipline for all four players, though Pegula, Krajicek, and Danilina have all been in men’s or women’s doubles finals at Slams, with Krajicek winning this year’s Roland Garros alongside Ivan Dodig.
Coco Gauff (6) vs. Aryna Sabalenka (2) – 4:00pm on Arthur Ashe Stadium
Sabalenka picked up her 50th victory of the season in her semifinal comeback against Madison Keys. Aryna got blitzed in the first set by a score of 6-0, and Madison even served for the match in the second set. But Keys blinked in that moment, and Sabalenka took full advantage, finding her game and claiming the last two sets in tiebreaks.
Aryna conquered plenty of demons in that semifinal, as she was 1-5 in Major semis, with all five losses coming in three sets. She’s been the WTA’s most consistent performer this season at big events, and the last time she won a Slam semifinal, she went on to defeat Elena Rybakina in the Australian Open final. The first set against Keys is the only set she’s dropped this fortnight, as Aryna dominated her first five rounds in New York.
Gauff overcame a much more challenging path to this championship match, losing a set in three of her first four matches. Yet Coco has tightened up her game as the tournament has progressed, losing just two games to Roland Garros champ Jelena Ostapenko in the quarters, and taking two tight sets against Roland Garros runner-up Karolina Muchova in the semis.
Just like Sabalenka, this is her second Major final in singles, but Gauff did not play well in hers. Last year in Paris, she managed just four games against Iga Swiatek. But 15 months later, the 19-year-old American is a different player. She 17-1 the past six weeks on hard courts, with titles in both Washington and Cincinnati. Adding Pere Riba and Brad Gilbert to her coaching team this summer has paid immediate dividends.
Coco leads their head-to-head 3-2, and they are tied 2-2 on hard courts. Their first three matches on this surface all went three sets, though most recently at Indian Wells this past March, Aryna comfortably prevailed 6-4, 6-0.
Sabalenka will look to dictate play from the baseline and with her serve, and take advantage of Gauff’s weaker wing, her forehand. Coco also has a good serve, and will look to utilize her speed advantage, and that dangerous backhand of hers. Yet the biggest difference between the two may be their temperament. While it’s something Aryna has vastly improved, she can still become extremely cranky on court when things aren’t going her way, as she did in her semifinal against Keys. Coco is much better at staying positive on court amidst adversity.
This feels like Coco’s moment. Four years after she broke onto the scene as an impressive 15-year-old, and just two months after the wake-up call that was her first round loss at Wimbledon, it’s all come together for Gauff, who has developed into a top tier player. And in recent years, we’ve seen how vociferously influential the crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium can be in big US Open matches. At her home Slam, Coco Gauff is the favorite to win her first Major title.
Saturday’s full Order of Play is here.
