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Elena Rybakina won her first US Open title and confirmed her place at the top of women’s tennis by beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final at Flushing Meadows, ending the two-time defending champion’s 19-match winning streak in New York and her bid to become the first woman to win three in a row at the tournament since Serena Williams in 2012-14.
The second seed’s third major title, and her second of 2026 after the Australian Open, was built on the composure Sabalenka could not find. Rybakina hit three unforced errors in the opening set to Sabalenka’s 15, and dropped just three points behind her own serve in the decider.
“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” said Rybakina, who collected $5.5m to Sabalenka’s $2.8m. “I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament. I honestly was coming here for the last 10 years, and it was never successful.”
A final decided by who blinked
This was the first US Open women’s final between the top two seeds since 2013, and the first time since 1975 that all four top seeds had reached the semi-finals in New York. It played out like a match between the two biggest hitters in the sport, because it was.
Rybakina, who led the WTA Tour in aces this season, took the opening set on the back of that error count, only for Sabalenka to steady herself, shorten the points and edge the second 7-5. It was the only set Rybakina lost.
The third was one-way traffic. Rybakina’s backhand, the shot that has troubled Sabalenka throughout their rivalry, began landing deeper and flatter down the line, and she ran out the set 6-2. She converted only three of 12 break points across the match but needed no more than that, because Sabalenka barely threatened her serve after the interval.
Sabalenka smashed her racquet after the match, following a brief exchange with Rybakina at the net. She explained it afterwards without apology.
- “It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat.”
- “I wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside” rather than hold it in.
- “I really felt like home here and cannot wait to come back next year.”
Sabalenka’s year without a major
Defeat leaves Sabalenka without a Grand Slam title in 2026, the first time that has happened since 2022. She lost the Australian Open final to Rybakina in January, went out of Wimbledon in the fourth round to Naomi Osaka, and exited early at both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati. Three tour-level titles is a respectable return for most players; for the woman who spent 99 consecutive weeks at world number one, it is a shortfall.
It is also her fifth Grand Slam final defeat since 2023, and her fourth in the past two seasons. The pattern is specific rather than general: Sabalenka has beaten everyone else on the biggest stages and keeps running into the same opponent. Rybakina has now recorded 10 career wins over players ranked world number one, six of them against Sabalenka.
Her route to the final offered little warning. She beat Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the sixth seed, in the quarter-finals, and third seed Jessica Pegula in the semis.
Kazakhstan’s first world number one
Rybakina’s ranking was in fact secured before the final was played. Her 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 semi-final win over fourth seed Coco Gauff mathematically ended Sabalenka’s 99-week run at the top, and the new list published on Monday makes Rybakina the 30th player to hold the WTA number one ranking and the first from Kazakhstan to reach number one in any tennis discipline.
The route there says as much as the ranking. Rybakina beat French Open champion Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals, Gauff in the semis and Sabalenka in the final: the last three women to hold a major title or the number one ranking, in successive matches, in a single fortnight.
Sabalenka will have the Asian swing and the WTA Finals to salvage something from the season. Rybakina arrives at both as the player everyone must beat, with a 2026 that now reads two hard-court majors from two and a head-to-head against the world number two that has become the defining rivalry of the women’s game.
“`
Saved to `/root/rybakina-usopen-0913.html`.
Two notes on editorial calls I made:
– **Winning streak: 19, not 20.** Sources split; NBC/ABC/Bleacher Report say 19, one TNT Sports piece said 20. I went with the majority.
– **Cut unverifiable colour.** I dropped a match duration, serve percentages and game-by-game break details I couldn’t source, and kept only stats confirmed in research (3 v 15 unforced errors, three points dropped on serve in set three, 3/12 break points).
Written byAhmad AliSports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
806 articles publishedRelated Articles
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Elena Rybakina won her first US Open title and confirmed her place at the top of women’s tennis by beating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final at Flushing Meadows, ending the two-time defending champion’s 19-match winning streak in New York and her bid to become the first woman to win three in a row at the tournament since Serena Williams in 2012-14.
The second seed’s third major title, and her second of 2026 after the Australian Open, was built on the composure Sabalenka could not find. Rybakina hit three unforced errors in the opening set to Sabalenka’s 15, and dropped just three points behind her own serve in the decider.
“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” said Rybakina, who collected $5.5m to Sabalenka’s $2.8m. “I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament. I honestly was coming here for the last 10 years, and it was never successful.”
A final decided by who blinked
This was the first US Open women’s final between the top two seeds since 2013, and the first time since 1975 that all four top seeds had reached the semi-finals in New York. It played out like a match between the two biggest hitters in the sport, because it was.
Rybakina, who led the WTA Tour in aces this season, took the opening set on the back of that error count, only for Sabalenka to steady herself, shorten the points and edge the second 7-5. It was the only set Rybakina lost.
The third was one-way traffic. Rybakina’s backhand, the shot that has troubled Sabalenka throughout their rivalry, began landing deeper and flatter down the line, and she ran out the set 6-2. She converted only three of 12 break points across the match but needed no more than that, because Sabalenka barely threatened her serve after the interval.
Sabalenka smashed her racquet after the match, following a brief exchange with Rybakina at the net. She explained it afterwards without apology.
- “It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of a Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat.”
- “I wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside” rather than hold it in.
- “I really felt like home here and cannot wait to come back next year.”
Sabalenka’s year without a major
Defeat leaves Sabalenka without a Grand Slam title in 2026, the first time that has happened since 2022. She lost the Australian Open final to Rybakina in January, went out of Wimbledon in the fourth round to Naomi Osaka, and exited early at both the Canadian Open and Cincinnati. Three tour-level titles is a respectable return for most players; for the woman who spent 99 consecutive weeks at world number one, it is a shortfall.
It is also her fifth Grand Slam final defeat since 2023, and her fourth in the past two seasons. The pattern is specific rather than general: Sabalenka has beaten everyone else on the biggest stages and keeps running into the same opponent. Rybakina has now recorded 10 career wins over players ranked world number one, six of them against Sabalenka.
Her route to the final offered little warning. She beat Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, the sixth seed, in the quarter-finals, and third seed Jessica Pegula in the semis.
Kazakhstan’s first world number one
Rybakina’s ranking was in fact secured before the final was played. Her 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 semi-final win over fourth seed Coco Gauff mathematically ended Sabalenka’s 99-week run at the top, and the new list published on Monday makes Rybakina the 30th player to hold the WTA number one ranking and the first from Kazakhstan to reach number one in any tennis discipline.
The route there says as much as the ranking. Rybakina beat French Open champion Mirra Andreeva in the quarter-finals, Gauff in the semis and Sabalenka in the final: the last three women to hold a major title or the number one ranking, in successive matches, in a single fortnight.
Sabalenka will have the Asian swing and the WTA Finals to salvage something from the season. Rybakina arrives at both as the player everyone must beat, with a 2026 that now reads two hard-court majors from two and a head-to-head against the world number two that has become the defining rivalry of the women’s game.
“`
Saved to `/root/rybakina-usopen-0913.html`.
Two notes on editorial calls I made:
– **Winning streak: 19, not 20.** Sources split; NBC/ABC/Bleacher Report say 19, one TNT Sports piece said 20. I went with the majority.
– **Cut unverifiable colour.** I dropped a match duration, serve percentages and game-by-game break details I couldn’t source, and kept only stats confirmed in research (3 v 15 unforced errors, three points dropped on serve in set three, 3/12 break points).
Sports journalist and editor at SportsPortal.net. Covers cricket, football, Formula 1, tennis, and basketball with a focus on how global sports connect with Pakistani audiences. Follows the PSL, Pakistan national cricket team, Premier League, and major international tournaments. Has reported on sports for digital audiences since 2021.
806 articles published
