Elena Rybakina Beats Sabalenka to Win 2026 US Open Title

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Kazakh tennis star Elena Rybakina claimed the 2026 US Open women's singles title, snapping Aryna Sabalenka's tournament dominance with a hard-fought final victory on Sunday morning, Western Indonesia Time (WIB).

Playing inside Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, Rybakina outlasted Sabalenka, who was contesting her fourth straight US Open final, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in a clash lasting two hours and 21 minutes.

"It’s tough to find words right now, honestly,” Rybakina said. “I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament. I’ve been dealing with a little bit with an injury, but somehow everything aligned together on my side," Rybakina said during the trophy presentation, as quoted by the WTA.

The triumph ensured Rybakina, who dethroned Sabalenka from the world number one spot after the Belarusian's 99-week reign, became just the third woman since 2000 to capture both the Australian Open and US Open in the same calendar year, joining Angelique Kerber (2016) and Sabalenka (2024).

The Flushing Meadows victory represents Rybakina's third title of 2026 and the 14th of her career. Earlier in January, she also secured the Australian Open title by defeating Sabalenka.

Rybakina now requires only a French Open crown at Roland Garros to complete a coveted Career Grand Slam.

Rybakina set an aggressive tone from the opening game. She broke Sabalenka's serve to carve out a 3-2 cushion and held on to close out the opening set 6-4, despite landing just 27 percent of her first serves.

In the second set, Rybakina raised her first-serve accuracy to 61 percent. However, she squandered two critical break point opportunities. Sabalenka seized the opening to mount a comeback, claiming the set 7-5 after breaking Rybakina’s serve in the 12th game.

Momentum swung back to Rybakina in the final set. She secured an early break for a 2-1 lead before breaking Sabalenka once more to go up 5-2.

Rybakina then sealed the victory with her 12th ace of the match to capture her maiden US Open crown.

"It's gonna be very different to wake up next morning knowing that you just won US Open, achieved the number one ranking," Rybakina said.

Rybakina had arrived in New York under a cloud of doubts following her quarterfinal withdrawal against Iga Swiatek in Cincinnati. Yet she delivered remarkable consistency across her fortnight at Flushing Meadows.

She dispatched 13th seed Naomi Osaka in straight sets during the fourth round. In her subsequent two matches, Rybakina staged back-to-back comebacks from a set down to defeat Zheng Qinwen and fourth seed Coco Gauff to book her place in the final.

By overcoming Sabalenka, Rybakina became the first player to defeat a defending women's singles champion in a US Open final since Serena Williams accomplished the feat in 2002.

She also stands as the first player to defeat the reigning world number one in a US Open final since Williams bested Victoria Azarenka in 2012.

For Aryna Sabalenka, the loss derailed her bid for a third straight US Open crown. It also marks the first season since 2022 in which she finishes without a Grand Slam title.

Additionally, Sabalenka missed her chance of becoming only the sixth woman to hold the top ranking for 100 consecutive weeks.

"I think overall I should be happy with the level I played, and there's lots of things to take from this tournament," said Sabalenka.

She added that the setback would fuel her motivation entering the upcoming season. "As experience shows, that I only come back stronger and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do better job," said Sabalenka.

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