In a high-powered thriller on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Elena Rybakina produced a masterclass performance to defeat world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. The victory earned the Kazakh star her maiden US Open title, her third career Grand Slam crown, and officially propelled her to the top of the WTA rankings for the first time.
Rybakina set the tone early in the two-hour and 21-minute contest. Using her formidable serve and blistering baseline depth, she struck the decisive break in the fifth game of the opening set to take it 6-4. Sabalenka, eyeing a historic three-peat in Flushing Meadows, showed signature resilience in the second set, clawing back late breaks to force a decider at 7-5.
However, Rybakina quickly quelled Sabalenka’s momentum in the third. Capitalizing on crucial serve-and-return opportunities and firing 12 aces overall, she secured an early double break to lock up the final set 6-2. Finishing with an astounding 85% of points won on her first serve and committing just 24 unforced errors, Rybakina closed out her second Grand Slam title of the season, adding to her Australian Open triumph earlier this year.