Aryna Sabalenka is one win from a third straight US Open title, and the player standing in her way beat her in a Grand Slam final eight months ago. Sabalenka came through Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to reach a fourth consecutive final in New York, and Elena Rybakina came from a set down to beat Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. Today the men decide their half of the weekend: Alexander Zverev against Karen Khachanov, then an all-American semi-final between Frances Tiafoe and Ben Shelton.
Our wider coverage sits in the US Open 2026 hub, the US Open 2026 preview, our outright betting tips and tournament predictions, plus yesterday’s Day 12 report.
Day 12 Results: Both Women’s Semi-Finals
| Match | Result |
|---|---|
| Aryna Sabalenka [1] d Jessica Pegula [3] | 7-5, 6-2 |
| Elena Rybakina [2] d Coco Gauff [4] | 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 |
Sabalenka has now beaten Pegula in three consecutive years at the closing stages in New York and is 4-0 against her at the Grand Slams. Rybakina, who now leads Gauff 2-1, lost the opening set for the second match running and won anyway, which is the pattern of her fortnight: she has been broken sparingly and has served her way out of every rough patch.
How Day 12’s bets landed
Both named bets won. Sabalenka was the pick against Pegula and came through in straight sets; Rybakina was the pick against Gauff and needed three. The Favourites Slip, which paired exactly those two, landed. The Value Slip needed both underdogs to take a set and Pegula never did. The Straight Sets Slip needed both winners in two and Rybakina dropped the opener. One from three on the slips, two from two on the named bets.
US Open 2026 Day 13 order of play
Both men’s semi-finals are on Arthur Ashe, Zverev and Khachanov first and the all-American tie second. The exact times are confirmed on the day.
Arthur Ashe Stadium
- [1] Alexander Zverev v Karen Khachanov
- [11] Frances Tiafoe v [8] Ben Shelton
The winners meet in Sunday’s final. The women’s final is tomorrow.
Alexander Zverev v Karen Khachanov
Khachanov has the better numbers of the two. He has won 15 sets and lost 3, the cleanest return of anyone left, and his quarter-final ended early when Alexander Blockx retired at 6-2, 7-5, 3-2, so he has had the lighter week. Zverev is 15-4 but needed five sets in each of his first two matches, against Lorenzo Sonego and Quentin Halys, before settling into the tournament.
Since then Zverev has been the more convincing. He dropped one set across the next three rounds and beat Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 in the quarter-final. He also owns the matchup: he leads the head-to-head 6-3 and has won three of the last four, and the biggest meeting of the rivalry was the 2021 Tokyo Olympic final, which Zverev won for gold. Khachanov’s wins have clustered at the Canadian Open, where he has beaten Zverev twice, most recently in the 2025 semi-final.
Best bet: Alexander Zverev to win — priced up at Bet365 (approx odds).
Frances Tiafoe v Ben Shelton
The first all-American men’s semi-final here since 2005, and the half of the draw that has produced the better tennis. Shelton beat Carlos Alcaraz 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6(10-7), closing a five-setter in a final-set tie-break, and had already taken out Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and Denis Shapovalov in four.
Tiafoe has done it the hard way too. He was two sets down to Alex Michelsen in the quarter-final before winning 5-7, 3-6, 7-5, 6-3, 7-6(10-6), and his best performance was the fourth round, where he beat Daniil Medvedev 7-6(7-1), 6-4, 7-6(8-6) and took both tie-breaks that decided it.
Shelton leads the head-to-head 3-1, and two of their four meetings have come at this tournament, split 1-1. The left-handed serve is the shot that decides these: Tiafoe is one of the best returners left, but Shelton has more free points on tap when a set gets tight, and both of his wins over Tiafoe have come on hard courts.
Best bet: Ben Shelton to win — priced up at Sky Bet (approx odds).
The women’s final is set
Sabalenka against Rybakina is a rematch of this year’s Australian Open final, which Rybakina won 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 in Melbourne. Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 10-7 across 17 meetings and won the most recent, 6-4, 6-3 at the Miami Open in 2026, but they are 1-1 in Grand Slam finals. Sabalenka is chasing a third consecutive US Open title after winning in 2024 and 2025.
US Open 2026 Day 13 acca
Two semi-finals, so the slips are short again. Our three are in the US Open 2026 Day 13 acca tips: a favourites double, a value double on the underdogs to take a set, and the straight-sets ticket.
How to watch US Open 2026
Sky Sports holds the UK rights, with coverage on Sky Sports Tennis and streaming through NOW. Day-session play on Arthur Ashe starts at 5pm BST and the night session follows at midnight BST. Full details are in our how to watch US Open guide.
Best bookmakers for US Open 2026
More US Open 2026 Coverage
All of our US Open 2026 coverage in one place: daily previews, accas and the essentials:
- US Open 2026 hub
- US Open 2026 preview
- US Open 2026 outright betting tips
- US Open 2026 predictions
- US Open 2026 qualifying
- US Open 2026 men’s draw predictor
- US Open 2026 women’s draw predictor
- US Open 2026 prize money
- US Open winners: every champion
- US Open final: dates and how to watch
- How to watch US Open 2026
- Feature: the Big Three streak ends
- Feature: Arthur Fery’s rise
Daily predictions & order of play: Day 2 · Day 3 · Day 4 · Day 5 · Day 6 · Day 7 · Day 8 · Day 9 · Day 10 · Day 11 · Day 12 · Day 13
Daily acca tips: Day 2 · Day 3 · Day 4 · Day 5 · Day 6 · Day 7 · Day 8 · Day 9 · Day 10 · Day 11 · Day 12 · Day 13
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