The Morning Shot: September 10, 2026
The sports stories worth knowing before your coffee gets cold.
Good morning. It turns out comebacks are contagious at the U.S. Open. Coco Gauff watched Frances Tiafoe save his tournament Tuesday and decided she’d try it herself Wednesday. Meanwhile, after almost 100 weeks, women’s tennis has a new No. 1, the Mets somehow turned an 8–0 lead into a one-run game, and the NFL is about to play a regular-season game in Australia for the first time.
Here’s your Morning Shot.
01 | Coco Gauff Was Two Points From Going Home
For the second straight day, an American at the U.S. Open looked finished.
Coco Gauff came out flat and lost the first set to Mirra Andreeva 6–2, struggling with her serve and some unforced errors, and eventually found herself facing two match points in the second-set tiebreak.
She saved both.
Gauff took the tiebreak 9–7 and then completely flipped the match, winning the third set 6–2 to advance to the semifinals. Final: 2–6, 7–6(7), 6–2.
And the best part? Gauff said she was thinking about Frances Tiafoe’s ridiculous comeback from the day before while trying to save her own tournament.
Why it matters: Gauff is back in the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time since winning the tournament in 2023. She’s now reached seven Grand Slam semifinals—and has won 20 of her last 24 three-set matches at majors.
The takeaway: At this point, if an American starts slow at the U.S. Open, just keep watching because they are sure to produce dramatic tennis.
02 | Women’s Tennis Has a New No. 1
Elena Rybakina had some work to do, too.
She dropped the opening set to Qinwen Zheng before taking over, winning 3–6, 6–1, 6–4 to reach her first U.S. Open semifinal. She earned something else in the process:
Elena Rybakina will become the world’s No. 1 women’s tennis player.
The ranking ends Aryna Sabalenka’s 99-week run at No. 1 and makes Rybakina the first player outside Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek to hold the top spot since 2022.
Her reward? Coco Gauff tonight.
Meanwhile, the other semifinal gives us Aryna Sabalenka vs. Jessica Pegula, meaning the women’s final four consists of the tournament’s top four seeds.
The takeaway: No Cinderella left. Just four heavyweights with two spots in the final. And it could be an all American women’s final.
I’m okay with that.
03 | The Seahawks Did It to the Patriots Again
The NFL is officially back, and Seattle still has New England’s number.
Seven months after beating the Patriots in Super Bowl LX, the Seahawks opened the 2026 season with another win over New England, 13–10. This one, however, was anything but straightforward.
Seattle lost starting quarterback Sam Darnold to a hip injury on the opening drive and fell behind 10–0. Backup Drew Lock took over, and Seattle didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter. Then a switch flipped. Lock connected with Jaxon Smith-Njigba for a 45-yard touchdown, and Seattle’s defense took care of the rest.
The Seahawks intercepted Drake Maye on each of New England’s final three possessions. The last one was particularly painful: the Patriots had driven to Seattle’s 16-yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining and were already in position to kick a tying field goal. Instead, Maye tried for the win and Josh Jobe intercepted him in the end zone with 21 seconds left. It was an incredible catch to seal the win and the #1 play on SportsCenter’s Top 10.
Maye finished with three fourth-quarter interceptions. Lock, who barely saw the field last season, went 16-of-22 for 187 yards and a touchdown after being thrown into the game unexpectedly.
Why it matters: Seattle raised its Super Bowl banner before the game, lost its starting quarterback almost immediately, trailed by 10 and still found a way to beat the same team it defeated for the championship.
The takeaway: New England had three separate chances to close this game out and Seattle took the ball away each time. That’s a pretty effective way to remind everyone why you’re the defending champs.
There’s now a storyline to watch beyond the win: initial imaging showed no fracture in Darnold’s hip, which Seattle called encouraging, but he’s scheduled for an MRI today and we should have more information soon.
04 | The Mets Blew an 8–0 Lead…and Won 15–14
Baseball, everybody.
The Mets went up 8–0 on Miami Wednesday. Then they blew the entire lead. Miami eventually went ahead 11–9.
Naturally, New York responded with six runs in the seventh inning and eventually won 15–14.
That’s a cool 29 combined runs for anyone keeping track at home. Francisco Lindor hit a three-run homer, and the Mets completed a three-game sweep while improving to 21–12 since the trade deadline. While it’s not enough to play into October, it may be encouraging as the organization looks ahead to next season.
Why it matters: Neither team will likely play meaningful baseball in Septembers, but it’s a reminder of how tense late season baseball can feel.
The takeaway: If your team scores eight unanswered runs to start a game, you should generally feel pretty safe. Mets fans know that’s not true.
05 | Team USA’s World Cup Gets Serious Today
Pool play is over and now the Americans don’t get a mulligan.
Team USA faces Hungary today in the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup quarterfinals after going 3–0 in group play. The Americans opened with a 94–61 win over China, barely escaped Italy 55–52, and then looked much more like themselves in a 105–64 rout of Czechia.
Caitlin Clark enters the knockout stage averaging a tournament-leading 6.3 assists per game, while a roster loaded with WNBA stars remains the favorite to win a fifth consecutive World Cup.
Why it matters: That Italy game showed this version of Team USA isn’t untouchable and that feels scary going into single elimination games.
The takeaway: The talent advantage is still enormous, but all it takes is one bad day to lose it all.
☕ THE ONE TO WATCH TODAY
The NFL Goes Down Under
This one’s too unusual not to be today’s pick.
The Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers play tonight at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the first NFL regular-season game ever held in Australia. Kickoff is 8:35 p.m. ET.
And the teams have taken completely opposite approaches to dealing with Australia.
San Francisco arrived more than a week early to acclimate.
The Rams? They stayed home, practiced on their normal schedule and arrived in Melbourne Thursday morning, essentially betting that keeping their players on a U.S. body clock will work better than adjusting to Australia and then readjusting when they return home. They even sent several players to Australia earlier this year to test different travel strategies.
The takeaway: Forget the NFC West showdown between the Rams vs. 49ers for a second. I’m also strangely invested in jet lag vs. sports science. Which will prevail? Tune in tomorrow’s Morning Shot to find out.
Five stories. A few minutes. Now you can pretend you spent all morning following sports.
