Rybakina Completes Stunning Sweep With First US Open Crown
Elena Rybakina arrived at Flushing Meadows barely able to walk. She left as world No. 1 and US Open champion.
The 27-year-old Kazakhstani star defeated two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 on Saturday to claim her first US Open title and the third Grand Slam of her career — completing a remarkable hard-court double after winning the Australian Open earlier this year against the same opponent [1]. The victory also confirmed her ascent to the top of the WTA rankings, displacing Sabalenka, who had held the No. 1 spot for 99 consecutive weeks [3].
"It's still so difficult to process what happened," Rybakina said after the match. "Too many achievements these few weeks." [3]
An Unlikely Champion
Few predicted Rybakina would even compete at the US Open, let alone win it. In the Cincinnati Open quarterfinals, she was forced to retire from her match against Iga Swiatek with a left ankle injury she later described as a chronic problem that had flared up [2]. For the first few days after the injury, she said it was "painful to even walk," and she did not touch a racket for seven days before the tournament began [2].
Her team consulted multiple doctors — including one by phone nearly every day — to manage her recovery, and she was grateful for extra preparation time when her first-round match was scheduled for the third day of the main draw [2]. By the time she stepped onto court, the improvement was visible.
"Some magic is happening. I was unlucky with injury and just going day by day," Rybakina told Sky Sports. "We didn't know how it was going to be so I'm super happy and still can't believe it." [1]
Rybakina did not drop a set in her first four matches, and in the round of 16 she needed just over an hour to dispatch two-time major champion Naomi Osaka, compiling 29 winners against only 17 unforced errors [2]. She then showed a different dimension of her game in the quarterfinals and semifinals, coming from a set down against Zheng Qinwen and home favourite Coco Gauff — the 2023 champion — to reach the final [1].
Ice Versus Fire on Arthur Ashe
The contrast between the two finalists has long defined their rivalry, and Saturday's match was no different. Sabalenka — combustible, expressive, prone to yelling and flinging her arms in disbelief — repeatedly looked toward her coaches' box with her palms up as things unravelled [3]. Rybakina, by contrast, offered almost nothing in the way of visible reaction.
"I think Elena is probably — not nonchalant, I don't want to say that, because she's not nonchalant — but just no reaction ever," Gauff said after losing to Rybakina in the semifinals [3].
That composure proved decisive. Even when Rybakina's first serve misfired — she got less than half of her first serves in during the final — she compensated with a devastating return game that kept Sabalenka pinned to the baseline and generated 12 break-point opportunities, of which she converted three [3]. Sabalenka's frustration boiled over most visibly when she double-faulted to hand Rybakina a 3-2 lead in the opening set, then smashed the returned ball into the crowd and received a warning from the chair umpire [3].
Sabalenka steadied in the second set, eventually forcing a decider by breaking Rybakina's second serve in the 12th game [1]. But the loose errors returned in the third, and Rybakina broke for a 2-1 lead and never looked back. She sealed the match — and the title — with her 12th ace of the day after double-faulting on her first championship point [2].
"I'm obviously not really happy with the level I played today, but she served incredible," Sabalenka told reporters. "She played really aggressive, great tennis. Yeah, she was simply a better player today than me." [2]
A Title That Rewrites the Record Books
The victory was historic in several respects. Rybakina became just the sixth woman to win both hard-court Grand Slam titles — the Australian Open and US Open — in the same calendar year [2]. She stopped Sabalenka's 19-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows, a run stretching back to her 2023 final loss to Gauff [3]. And she earned $5.5 million, the largest prize in Grand Slam history, tying Sabalenka and French Open winner Mirra Andreeva with a tour-high three titles this season [3].
It was also the third No. 1 vs. No. 2 women's final at the US Open since 2000 — and the first in which the challenger prevailed, with Serena Williams having won the other two [3].
Rybakina's path to this moment has not been without turbulence off the court. Her coach, Stefano Vukov, was suspended by the WTA for much of the 2025 season following accusations of verbal abuse and cultivating a relationship of dependence with Rybakina — a ban lifted last August [2]. Vukov was present in her player box throughout the tournament and the two embraced warmly after her victory, with Rybakina thanking him in her speech [2].
For Sabalenka, the defeat extended a painful pattern. It was her fifth loss in nine Grand Slam finals, adding to the argument that her dominance on the WTA Tour has not been fully converted into major titles [1]. She was attempting to become the first player since Serena Williams to win three consecutive US Open titles [3].
"The last thing I want to do right now is give a speech but I will try my best," an emotional Sabalenka told the 24,000 fans on Arthur Ashe Stadium. "I wish I could have performed a little bit better, but I guess next year." [1]
Before leaving her news conference, Sabalenka was informed she had held the No. 1 ranking for 99 weeks. Her response carried a hint of a challenge: "Well, that's amazing. Let's see if Elena can beat me in that. She continues to play like that, then yeah, I'm in trouble." [2]
What to Watch Next
Rybakina now holds a more than 2,000-point lead in the rankings and has already clinched her spot in the year-end WTA Finals [2]. She enters 2027 with two Grand Slam titles to defend and one major — the French Open — standing between her and a career Grand Slam [1]. Whether the clay courts of Roland Garros can be conquered by a player whose game is built on power and first-strike tennis will be the defining question of her next chapter. Sabalenka, meanwhile, will look to reclaim her throne and finally convert her formidable talent into more major silverware.
