Kazakhstan's Yelena Rybakina ousted Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka from the throne of the US Open tennis championship, after defeating her 6/4, 5/7, 6/2 in the final at dawn on Sunday, depriving her of winning the title for the third time in a row.
Sabalenka, who won the title in the past two editions, appeared in a state of tension and frustration throughout the match, which lasted two hours and 21 minutes. She committed 35 unjustified errors, and she also took out her anger on her rackets more than once, after she hit one of the balls into the stands and received a warning, before smashing a racket after the match ended.
“I just wanted to take out all that anger and frustration on the court,” Sabalenka said. "It's very difficult to control your emotions when you lose a Grand Slam final, especially when you're chasing a third title in a row, so I just wanted to get it all out."
Sabalenka, who maintained the top spot in the world rankings for 99 consecutive weeks, played her fourth consecutive final in Flushing Meadows, but was unable to impose her style against Rybakina, who won the first set 6/4.
Sabalenka responded strongly in the second set and won it 7/5, but Rybakina regained control in the deciding set, winning it 6/2 to seal the title.
Sabalenka admitted that she did not perform at the level she expected of herself, and said: “I was hoping to perform a little better, but maybe that will be next year.” “I am not happy with the level I performed.”
Despite the loss, Sabalenka enjoyed great support from the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium, unlike the 2023 final, when she lost to American Coco Gauff amid large crowd support for her opponent.
The Belarusian player said: “At some point I felt like an American.” “I was just hoping to win and feel more supported.”
Sabalenka ends the season without winning any title in the four major tournaments for the first time since 2022, but she confirmed that she will benefit from her experience in the tournament and will continue to work to come back stronger.
She said: “I will continue to work hard and develop my level.” There are a lot of things that can be learned from this tournament. As experience shows, I always come back stronger, and all these lessons I learned this season have already made me stronger, and will certainly motivate me to perform better next year.”
Kazakh Yelena Rybakina wrote a new chapter in the history of tennis, after she won the US Open title for the first time in her career, and became the third player since 2000 to combine the Australian Open and US Open titles in the same year, joining German Angelique Kerber in 2016 and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in 2024.
The New York title was not just the third major championship in the Kazakh player’s career, but rather it brought her one step closer to completing the four major championship titles, as she was only missing the “Roland Garros” title to achieve what is known as the “Grand Slam” in her career. Rybakina also raised her tally to three Grand Slam titles and 14 titles in her professional career, confirming that she has become one of the most prominent names at the top of world tennis.
The achievement came after her victory over Sabalenka 6/4, 5/7, 6/2 in the “Flushing Meadows” final at dawn today (Sunday), after a match that lasted two hours and 21 minutes at Arthur Ashe Stadium... Rybakina confirmed her ability to deal with pressure and regain control when she needed to, after losing the second set.
With this victory, Rybakina confirmed her continued superiority over Sabalenka in major confrontations, after achieving her third consecutive victory over her in a major tournament final. She started in the final of the World WTA Finals tournament last year, then repeated her superiority in the Australian Open final in January, before adding the “US Open” title to her list of victories.
Rybakina's path to the title was not easy, especially since she entered the tournament amid concerns about her physical condition after she was forced to withdraw from her match against Iga Švyontek in the quarter-finals of the Cincinnati tournament. But she returned in New York without appearing affected, defeating Japanese Naomi Osaka in the fourth round, and reached the quarter-finals without losing a set, before overturning her deficit against Chinese Cheng Qinwen and American Coco Gauff in two consecutive matches and booking her place in the final.
The value of Rybakina's achievement increased after she became the first player to defeat the holder of the women's singles title in the US Open final since Serena Williams in 2002. She also became the first player to defeat the world number one in the tournament final since Williams as well, when she defeated Victoria Azarenka in 2012.
Rybakina said during the coronation ceremony that she finds it difficult to find the appropriate words to describe what she has achieved, noting that she did not expect to reach this end in New York. She added that injuries affected her during the recent period, but this time things went in her favor, after she had been coming to the American Championship for ten years without achieving results close to this achievement.
While Rybakina was celebrating one of the biggest achievements of her career, Sabalenka was living on the other side of the scene, after losing the opportunity to retain the US Open title for the third time in a row, and ending the Grand Slam season for the first time since 2002 without winning any title.
Sabalenka's frustration and anger were evident after the match, especially since the loss came in a tournament that represented an opportunity for her to assert her dominance in the women's competition. She was also only one week away from reaching 100 consecutive weeks at the top of the world rankings, but she stopped at 99 weeks after Rybakina snatched the first place from her.
Sabalenka's anger was not just a result of losing a final match, but was linked to an entire season that brought a lot of pressure for the Belarusian player. She was entering the tournament as the defending champion for the second time, seeking to become the first player since Serena Williams to achieve three consecutive US Open titles, in addition to her desire to continue her control at the top of the rankings.
But Sabalenka tried not to allow anger to overshadow her assessment of what she had done in the tournament. She said after the match that she chose to “leave the matter” on the field and look at the week in a more positive light, stressing that her level in general makes her feel and be happy, and that there are many lessons that can be learned from the tournament.
These words reflect another side of Sabalenka's competitive personality. The player did not hide her disappointment, but at the same time she refused to consider the loss as an end point. She said that her previous experiences proved that she always comes back stronger, and that the lessons she learned during the season made her stronger, adding that the loss will give her motivation to work better next year.
In the final itself, Sabalenka seemed able to come back after losing the first set. Rybakina broke her serve early to win the opening set, before Sabalenka raised her level and decided the second set 7/5 and imposed a deciding set.
But Rybakina did not allow the match to get out of her grip again, as she broke her opponent’s serve in the third set, giving her a 2/1 lead, before adding another break while leading 5/2, then clinching the title with an ace, which was her 12th in the match, in an ending that reflected the strength of her serve and her ability to end the confrontation at the right moment.
For Sabalenka, the loss was more painful because it came against a competitor who has become one of the most difficult obstacles on her path to major titles. Vrybakina not only stopped her in the US Open final, but also defeated her in three consecutive major final matches, which gives the competition between the two players a new dimension as they enter a new phase of the struggle for the top spot in world tennis.
Although Sabalenka left New York without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2022, she stressed that she does not view the season as a failure, and that it is not about being ranked first, second, third, or fourth, but rather about continuing to work and improving her level.
She added that she hopes to win more championships, in a clear message to her competitors that losing the title and the lead will not push her back, but may give her an additional reason to come back stronger.
