Elena Rybakina wins US Open, denying Aryna Sabalenka three-peat

Elena Rybakina Claims US Open Title and Takes Over World No. 1 Spot

Cybersecarmor.com – Elena Rybakina completed a defining fortnight in New York by defeating Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the US Open women’s final, stopping the Belarusian star’s attempt to win a third consecutive championship at the tournament.

The victory delivered Rybakina’s third Grand Slam singles title and confirmed her position atop the women’s rankings. Sabalenka arrived as the No. 1 seed and had occupied the top ranking for 99 straight weeks, but Rybakina’s quarterfinal win over Qinwen Zheng had already guaranteed that the Kazakh player would move into first place regardless of the final’s result.

“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” Rybakina said during her on-court interview. “I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament. I’ve been dealing with a little bit with an injury, but somehow everything aligned together on my side.”

A Final Between the Tour’s Leading Players

The championship match brought together the top two women in the rankings and renewed a rivalry that has repeatedly produced high-stakes hard-court encounters. It was also a rematch of the Australian Open final in January, won by Rybakina. Sabalenka had since responded with victories over Rybakina in the Indian Wells final and the Miami semifinals.

Sunday’s contest marked their 15th hard-court meeting. Rybakina’s triumph gave her an 8-7 advantage in those matchups, a narrow edge that reflects how closely contested their rivalry has become on the surface that hosts both the Australian Open and US Open.

Rybakina began the final with an efficient, opportunistic opening set. Her first-serve percentage was only 27%, yet she controlled key exchanges and took advantage when Sabalenka’s game became erratic. Sabalenka made 14 unforced errors in the first set, part of a total of 35 for the match.

A double fault helped Rybakina claim the fifth game of the opener. Sabalenka’s frustration quickly became visible as she hit a ball high into the stands, where a fan caught it. Throughout the match, the four-time Grand Slam champion reacted openly to missed chances, raising her arms, speaking to herself, dropping her racket and looking toward her coaching box.

Sabalenka Forces a Decider

The second set offered a sharper version of Sabalenka’s game. Both players protected serve through the opening 11 games, turning the set into a tense sequence of increasingly important holds. Sabalenka had two opportunities to close it out in the 10th game but let them slip away after four consecutive errors.

She nevertheless found a way to break on her next chance, securing the set 7-5 and extending the final. The turnaround gave Sabalenka an opportunity to revive her pursuit of history: she was seeking to become only the third woman in the Open Era to win at least three US Open titles in a row, and the first to do so since Serena Williams won from 2012 through 2014.

Instead, Rybakina reset quickly for the deciding set. The 27-year-old, who was born in Russia and competes for Kazakhstan, moved ahead 4-1 and never allowed Sabalenka to establish sustained momentum. On match point, Rybakina produced an ace, ending the contest and sealing the biggest result of her season.

The title was worth $5.5 million in prize money for Rybakina. Sabalenka, who smashed her racket after the loss, received $2.8 million as runner-up.

A New Order at the Top

For Rybakina, the result combines a major championship with a new ranking milestone. Her run through the tournament came despite the injury concerns she referenced after the final, making the title an especially notable achievement. Winning in Arthur Ashe Stadium also gives her a US Open crown to add to her growing Grand Slam résumé.

Sabalenka’s loss ends her campaign for a third straight New York title, but her route to the final again demonstrated her place among the sport’s most consistent major-tournament contenders. In the semifinals, she had produced one of her strongest stretches of tennis to defeat Jessica Pegula before the pressure of the final brought back the errors that Rybakina was able to exploit.

“I really felt like home here and cannot wait to come back next year,” Sabalenka said. “I wish I could perform a little bit better but I guess next year.”

The final highlighted the small margins separating the leading players in women’s tennis. Sabalenka had the resilience to turn a set-and-a-break deficit into a third set, while Rybakina responded with an authoritative finish when the championship was on the line. Their latest meeting added another chapter to a hard-court rivalry that has now been decided by just one match.

Rybakina leaves New York as both US Open champion and the newly crowned world No. 1, while Sabalenka will look toward another chance to reclaim the title she had held for the previous two years.