First Published: Sep 10 2026 | 1:30 PM IST

Garcia and Benn headline a massive event on Sept. 12 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas

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Sep 12, 2026

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9:30 pm ET

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2 min read

Coco Gauff knows what she is up against in her U.S. Open semifinal against Elena Rybakina, whose firepower has vaulted her to the top of the tennis rankings.

“I know I’m going to have some aces hit on me and some winners hit on me, but I’m going to keep fighting and give it my all,” Gauff said. “That’s all I can do.” That’s how Gauff earned her first title in Flushing Meadows and why she’s still in the running for another.

Gauff fought off a couple match points in a tiebreaker and beat Mirra Andreeva 2-6, 7-6 (7), 6-2 on Wednesday to set up matchup against the new No. 1 in women’s tennis.

Gauff overcame a horrible start to give herself a chance at a second U.S. Open trophy. She won the tournament in 2023, when she had to shake off a similar rough beginning against Aryna Sabalenka in the final.

Andreeva, the French Open champion, won the first seven points and took the first set in 26 minutes before the No. 4-seeded Gauff regrouped. She said during the break after the first set she thought about fellow American Frances Tiafoe, who came from two sets down in his quarterfinal match a day earlier.

“So, honestly I was just trying to literally leave the court with no regrets,” Gauff said.

Rybakina edged Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 earlier Wednesday, guaranteeing she will become No. 1 in the WTA rankings after the tournament.

The top-ranked Sabalenka faces No. 3 Jessica Pegula in the other semifinal Thursday. But no matter what happens in the remaining matches, Rybakina will end Sabalenka’s 99-week stay at No. 1 when the new rankings are released Monday.

“It’s just a number right now and of course I’m in the semis so my goal is to win the tournament,” Rybakina said. “It’s an amazing achievement but you know how quick everything can change in tennis, ranking-wise, during the match, so I feel like I just need to focus on my game, try to recover and enjoy tomorrow.” It’s the first time since 1975 that all four of the women’s top seeds reached the U.S. Open semifinals.

Gauff won a 39-shot rally to take a 5-3 lead in the tiebreaker, but Andreeva took the next three points to earn her first match point. Gauff erased that when the Russian sent a forehand long, then stopped Andreeva’s second chance at 7-6.

Then it was mostly all Gauff in the third set en route to her seventh Grand Slam semifinal.

Rybakina struggles with an early start after the US Open’s latest finish Rybakina and Zheng were scheduled to start about eight hours after Ben Shelton finished off his victory over defending champion Carlos Alcaraz at 3:33 a.m., the latest finish in U.S. Open history.

Rybakina said she struggled with the sun and shadows in Arthur Ashe Stadium early on after starting later in the day in her previous matches.

Zheng capitalized on Rybakina’s early struggles to get her only break of the match against one of the best servers in women’s tennis and take a 5-3 lead in the first set.

But Zheng, who had been playing from behind so much in Flushing Meadows, couldn’t hold onto the lead and Rybakina rolled through the second set in 38 minutes.

Zheng, the 2024 Olympic gold medalist from China, had to come through the qualifying tournament just to make the main draw after elbow surgery dropped her down the rankings to her current place of No. 121. Once ranked No. 4, she is guaranteed to move back into the top 60.

She made a dramatic run to the quarterfinals, erasing a 5-0 deficit in the third set against Madison Keys in the third round and then climbing out of another 5-0 hole in the first set in her fourth-round victory over No. 8-seed Iga Swiatek.

But a double-fault gave her opponent a 5-4 lead in the third set and Rybakina served it out to reach the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time.

“I think the wins that I had so far are great, but obviously today in the match I got a lot of chances in the third set, but I didn’t take it,” Zheng said. “That was a bit pity for me to lose this match, but obviously I could take positive things from U.S. Open this year.” Rybakina came into the tournament needing only to reach the semifinals to ensure she would move past Sabalenka. Had the 27-year-old from Kazakhstan lost before the final four, Sabalenka, Pegula or Gauff could have been No. 1 next week by winning the tournament.

Setting up the men’s semifinals Karen Khachanov reached his third Grand Slam semifinal when No. 28 seed Alexander Blockx stopped playing midway through the third set after Khachanov had won the first two. Blockx had his upper left leg wrapped and received treatment on both his lower leg and back as well.

Khachanov, who reached the semis at the U.S. Open in 2022 and the 2023 Australian Open, will play top-seeded Alexander Zverev in one semifinal match Friday. Shelton and Tiafoe will square off in an all-American semifinal match.

Ger Lyons, who has a good record at Irish Champions Festival, completed a double in the opening two races on Saturday.

The Juddmonte Farms-owned previous course and distance winner Máire Rua (5/2) won the opening Ballylinch Stud Irish EBF Ingabelle Stakes (Listed) for two-year-old fillies under jockey Colin Keane.

The grey daughter of Frankel came on the outside of the 11-runner field to claim victory by a half-length from the favourite Timeless Tale (2/1), with the Aidan O’Brien-trained pair, Snowing (11/1) and Ibelieveicanfly (3/1) third and fourth respectively.

Birthday boy @ctkjockey gets his day off to a flyer! 🎂

Grey Frankel filly Maire Rua comes home best to land the Ingabelle Stakes for the Ger Lyons team. @BallylinchStud | @IrishEBF_ | @JuddmonteFarms pic.twitter.com/NtSW3Qtu5D

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— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 12, 2026

Ger Lyons said of his first race winner:

“She is nice filly going forward. She was out quick and I got onto the tail of Billy [Lee on Timeless Tale]. She picked up well in the straight and she will have no problem going a mile. She needs racing and needs to learn more.”

Lyons took the second race on the card with the success of Krasimir (15/2) and Reece Holohan in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Sovereign Path (Premier Handicap).

The Tally-Ho Stud-bred bay gelded son of Mehmas won by a head from the English-trained Vafortina (7/1), with the Johnny Murtagh-handled Sindagan (12/1), arguable the unlucky runner in the race. coming home in third, three-quarters of one length behind the runner-up.

It’s Ger Lyons again! 🥇🥇@LeopardstownRC | @IrishEBF_ pic.twitter.com/8NVAwcFv64

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 12, 2026

Two English Winners

British handlers completed a Group double on day one of Irish Champions Festival. Arabian Crown (11/), supplemented for the Group 3 World Pool Bet With The Tote Kilternan Stakes, while the Simon & Ed Crisford favourite Quddwah (evens favourite) won the Group 2 Tonybet Solonaway Stakes.

A front-running masterclass 🟦🟦@godolphin runner Arabian Crown leads his rivals a merry dance under the perfect front-running ride from @the_doyler in the G3 Kilternan Stakes.@HKJC_Racing | @WorldPool pic.twitter.com/s71NtSGWfv

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 12, 2026

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Murphy and McCreer take Premier Handicaps

Tipperary handler Joe Murphy took a Premier Handicap when Immutable (25/1), under Luke McAteer, won the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Pettingo Handicap.

The six-year-old bay gelding had a neck to spare over the Joseph O’Brien-trained Yousaynothingatall (6/1) and Oisín Murphy, with Willie Mullins’ Too Bossy For Us (11/1) next home in the hands of Ben Coen.

The final race, the World Pool Bet With Tote Autumn Fillies Handicap (Premier Handicap), went to Ben Coen and Willie McCreery, as Rebel Wave (7/1) got the better of Chica Guerra (18/1) and Killashee Warrior (8/1) by a half-length and a short-head respectively.

Arch Manning had a disastrous start against Ohio State on Saturday, and fans had a field day with it.

During the game’s second drive, with his team down a field goal, the Texas quarterback misjudged a pass to Cam Coleman. The ball bounced off the wide receiver’s hands and into those of Buckeyes cornerback Jaylen McClain:

The cameras later shifted to a puzzled Manning:

Much mockery ensued as soon as the footage hit:

The Longhorns would fall burther behind later that quarter, when Buckeyes running back Ja’Kobi Jackson rushed for an eight-yard touchdown.

Manning finished the first quarter with just a single completion to Raleek Brown that resulted in a four-yard loss. He also lost ten yards on one rushing attempt. Only Daylan Smothers had positive yardage, rushing thrice for 13 yards.

While the number of his interceptions has not been a major narrative in his career, his perceived inability to handle “big-game” pressure has. During ESPN’s “College GameDay”, Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian got candid on the topic:

“Honestly, I think the adversity he got faced with last year was the best thing for him, his career, for his future and his own mental health. He had never had real adversity before. So to get faced with it, then get on the other side of it and play the way he played the second half of the season, I think that speaks volumes of the human being.”

ALSO READ: “All an act”: NFL fans mock Arch Manning’s “manufactured excitement” for Texas vs. Ohio State Week 2 game

ALSO READ: “He has to have monster game”: Arch Manning put under massive pressure by Paul Finebaum to save Steve Sarkisian vs. Ohio State

Arch Manning receives half of runaway winner’s votes in 2027 QB1 draft poll

Costly interceptions like the one above can serve to hurt prospects’ standing, and it is no different for Arch Manning, as evidenced by a recent 2027 draft QB1 poll.

On Saturday morning, ESPN’s Pete Thamel revealed that the son of Cooper and nephew of Peyton and Eli had received seven votes. While it was good enough for solo second, Oregon’s Dante Moore received double that amount.

South Carolina’s LaNorris Sellers was the only other quarterback to have more then one vote, receiving two. LSU’s Sam Leavitt and Notre Dame’s CJ Carr had one vote each.

The 2027 QB class also boasts the likes of Oklahoma’s Julian Sayin, Ole Miss’s Trinidad Cambliss and Cinciinati’s Brendan Sorsby. A veteran NFL executive commented on such depth:

“That’s crazy. I just don’t know the last time that’s happened. But again, how many of those [dozen or so] will actually come out and have good years? Also, there’s always the Cam Wards — a guy people aren’t talking about that’s all of sudden in top 30.”

The 2027 NFL draft will emanate from Washington, D.C.’s National Mall from April 29 to May 1.