US Open: Elena Rybakina crowned queen of New York and new world number one

The new queen of New York, and of the world. Already assured of becoming world number one at the end of the tournament, Elena Rybakina killed two birds with one stone by beating, on Saturday September 12, the current world number one, Aryna Sabalenka, in the final of the US Open (6-4, 5-7, 6-2). At 28, the Kazakhstan player triumphed for the first time in New York, where she played in her first final. This is his third coronation in a Grand Slam tournament, after Wimbledon in 2022, and the Australian Open in 2026.

Before becoming the new world number one on Monday, Elena Rybakina asserted her authority in this controlled final, depriving Aryna Sabalenka of a third title in a row in New York. The Belarusian, however, assured that she was "ready to do anything to win", but never found the solution, and therefore concluded her season without any Grand Slam title. Elena Rybakina, who had never made it past the round of 16 of the US Open, won in 2h21 for her third Grand Slam final (out of 4) against the Belarusian, for two victories and one defeat.

The 3rd woman to win the US Open and Australian Open in the same year

This defeat, on the other hand, is a new snub for the native of Minsk in the Grand Slam final, she who has now lost five of the 9 finals she has played at this level: two at the Australian Open (2025, 2026), one at Roland-Garros (2025) and now two at the US Open (2023, 2026). Born in Moscow but representative of Kazakhstan since 2018, Elena Rybakina becomes the third player to win the Australian Open and the US Open in the same year in the 21st century, after Angelique Kerber (2016) and Aryna Sabalenka (2024).

And this at the end of a final full of mastery, like a first set during which we had to wait seven games to see her commit a direct error. She then broke quickly to lead 3 games to 2 after a double fault from the Belarusian, who did not have the opportunity to get rid of her opponent's lead. But the new boss of the circuit had more waste in the second (13 vs 8).

If she had two opportunities to break straight away, Sabalenka had more winning shots and her aggressiveness ended up paying off to get back to a set everywhere. Except that Rybakina has never lost a match in New York after winning the first set (13-0 before the final). She took advantage of the Belarusian's numerous errors (12) to break twice and claimed the title with her 12th ace of the match after 2h21.