Jelena Rybakina defeats Aryna Sabalenka 6:4, 5:7, 6:2 to win US Open and claim world No. 1 ranking
Jelena Rybakina won her first US Open title by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in three sets, ending Sabalenka's 99-week reign as the world No. 1.
Rybakina claims first US Open crown
Jelena Rybakina secured the 2026 US Open women's singles title on Saturday, defeating defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6:4, 5:7, 6:2 in 2 hours and 21 minutes. The win at Arthur Ashe Stadium earned the 27-year-old Kazakh player her third career Grand Slam title, alongside Wimbledon in 2022 and the 2026 Australian Open. Rybakina also collected a tournament prize of $5.5 million (approximately €4.7 million). The victory improved her record in New York, where she had failed to advance past the round of 16 in her previous seven appearances. Sabalenka had won the title in both 2024 and 2025 but fell short of joining Chris Evert (1975–1978) and Serena Williams (2012–2014) as the only women in the Open era to win three consecutive US Open trophies.
Match dynamics and baseline battle
Prior to the final, Sabalenka had anticipated a demanding physical contest against her regular rival.
It will be a physically and mentally difficult match.
The opening set lasted 44 minutes and turned when Sabalenka committed a double fault to surrender her serve at 2:3, drawing a code violation after hitting a ball into the stands. Rybakina took the first set 6:4 despite landing only 27% of her first serves. Sabalenka responded in the second set by increasing shot variation, utilizing drop shots, and converting a break in the twelfth game to take the set 7:5. Rybakina regained control in the deciding set by breaking Sabalenka twice while losing only three points on her own service games. The contest concluded when Rybakina struck an ace on match point in front of a crowd that included Brad Pitt, Maria Sharapova, and Boris Becker.
WTA rankings transition and season head-to-head
The victory completed Rybakina's rise to the top of the WTA rankings, a position guaranteed once she reached the semi-final stage in New York. On Monday, she will officially replace Sabalenka as the World No. 1, ending a 99-week unbroken stint that the Belarusian held since October 2024. Rybakina becomes the 30th woman to hold the top spot since the computerized WTA rankings were introduced in 1975. The final marked their fourth meeting of 2026, with Rybakina having won the Australian Open final before Sabalenka claimed victories at Indian Wells and Miami.
- Rybakina defeats Sabalenka in the final
- Sabalenka defeats Rybakina
- Sabalenka defeats Rybakina
- Rybakina defeats Sabalenka 6:4, 5:7, 6:2 in the final
- Aryna Sabalenka
- 4 titles
- Jelena Rybakina
- 3 titles
Additional tournament finals and schedule
Sabalenka finishes the 2026 Grand Slam season without a trophy, remaining at four career Grand Slam singles championships. In the men's doubles final held earlier on Saturday, the German tandem of Kevin Krawietz and Tim Pütz lost 4:6, 6:7 (6:8) against Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Christian Harrison of the United States. The tournament concludes on Sunday with the men's singles final between Germany's Alexander Zverev (ATP 2) and American Ben Shelton (ATP 9). Zverev reached the final with a 6:3, 7:6 (9:7), 7:6 (8:6) win against Karen Khachanov, while Shelton advanced by defeating Frances Tiafoe 4:6, 6:3, 6:3, 7:5.
