Elena Rybakina put an exclamation point on an amazing and unlikely fortnight Saturday afternoon in the U.S. Open championship match.
The 27-year-old Kazakhstani, who will be ranked No. 1 in the world for the first time on Monday, defeated current No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York.
Rybakina bookended victories in the 2026 Grand Slam calendar and defeated Sabalenka in both the Australian Open in January and in today’s final major.
Both matches followed the same pattern as Rybakina took the first set, Sabalenka rebounded to take the second, but Rybakina responded to thwart the comeback.
Rybakina captured her third Grand Slam title, but this championship capped her first journey beyond the fourth round in New York. She burst onto the scene in 2022, when she won Wimbledon as the 17th seed.
Moreover, Rybakina sustained a left ankle injury and retired during her quarterfinal match against Poland’s Iga Swiatek at the WTA 1000 event in Cincinnati in August, the event which preceded the U.S. Open. She could not practice for a week and came into New York unsure of how the ankle would hold up.
In the deciding set, Rybakina broke Sabalenka in the third game to lead 2-1 when a Sabalenka groundstroke went long at 30-40. After easily holding serve in her next two opportunities, she knocked off a volley to break again and take a 5-2 advantage.
Rybakina served up two double faults while attempting to serve it out, but scorched her 12th ace up the middle to close it out.
Rybakina was dominant on serve in the deciding set, winning 16 of 19 points. She captured 35 of 41 points on her first serve in the match.
The first-time U.S. Open champion hit 36 winners and committed only 24 unforced errors, while Sabalenka nearly matched her opponent in winners (32), but made 35 miscues.
It has been 13 years since the U.S. Open finals featured a No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup. Top-seeded Serena Williams defeated No. 2 Victoria Azarenka to capture her fifth of six titles in 2013.
Sabalenka was able to fend off three break points in the third game of the first set, but could not two games later as Rybakina earned the first break of the match after a double-fault. Sabalenka slammed the ball into the crowd after her misfire which put her behind 3-2.
Despite Rybakina’s dismal 27% efficiency on her first serves in the opening set, Sabalenka could not take advantage. The two-time defending champion only won 7-of-22 second serve return points and did not get a break-point chance in dropping the first set.
Both players cut down on their respective negative issues in the second set. Sabalenka sliced her errors from 15 in the first set to eight in the second, while Rybakina improved her first serve to 62%.
Sabalenka earned her first two break points of the match at 5-4 in that second set, but Rybakina saved both set points against and won the next two to knot the set.
But with the crowd exhorting her on, Sabalenka finally broke through at 6-5, spotting her opponent a 30-love lead but rallying and winning the set on a searing backhand return.
Through two sets, each player had won 71 points apiece.
Sabalenka’s 99-week streak as the top-ranked women’s player was the sixth-longest in WTA history.
Sabalenka still leads the all-time series at 10-8, but Rybakina has won five of seven tournament finals.
–Field Level Media
