Elena Rybakina wins the 2026 US Open, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the final

Rybakina previously won Wimbledon 2022 and the Australian Open 2026. In Melbourne, she also defeated Sabalenka in the final.

It was the 18th meeting of these players and Rybakina's eighth win. The course of Saturday's final was very similar to their Australian confrontation. Then Kazashka also won the first set, the second one went to Sabalenka, but in the third set Rybakina was again better.

Sabalenka and Rybakina are currently the best serving tennis players. So we couldn't expect many breaks, and indeed both of them were impressive with their passing, especially Kazaszka.

Even fight in the second set

In the first set, Rybakina could not be broken, although the effectiveness of her first serve was only 27%. All because Sabalenka had trouble scoring points even on Rybakina's second serve. The fifth game turned out to be crucial for the fate of the party, in which the Kazashka managed to break the Belarusian.

In the second set, the fight continued game by game until the score was 5:5. Then Sabalenka made it 6:5, and then Rybakina, who was serving to lead to the tie-break, finally failed her serve.

Kazakhka reacted to the lost set in masterful style. Her serve in the third game was almost flawless. In her first three service games, she gave Sabalenko only one ball.

In addition, she managed to pass the Belarusian's pass twice. She was winning 5-2 and only when she served to win the match did her hand tremble a bit. She committed two double service faults in this game, but she used the second match ball with an ace for the 12th time in this match.

$5.5 million for winning

I'm having a hard time finding words right now. It was an amazing tournament. I didn't expect something like this. Just before it, I was struggling with an injury and suddenly everything started going the way I wanted, said Rybakina, who received the trophy from the hands of former Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova. For her victory, she received $5.5 million.

Just nine days before the start of the US Open, Rybakina retired due to Achilles tendon problems in the quarterfinal match against Iga Świątek in Cincinnati.

I wanted to play better and I hope I will do it next year, said Sabalenka, holding back tears. The Belarusian played in the US Open final for the fourth year in a row. In 2023, she lost to the American Coco Gauff, and then won two editions.

Even before the final, it was clear that Rybakina would replace Sabalenka in first place in Monday's ranking. On Saturday, she won her 10th victory against the current leader of the WTA list. It was Sabalenka six times and Świątek four times.

Final result: