Tennis fans knew going into the 2026 US Open women's final between Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka that the match was likely going to be an elite example of the sport. The players didn't disappoint, and Rybakina won in three sets, winning the event with her 12th ace of the match.
Rybakina and Sabalenka have consistently been the best players on the WTA side of tennis throughout 2026. New York fans might have wanted Coco Gauff to be in the final, but at their best on a hard surface, the Kazakhstani and Belarusian are the best players on tour. Rybakina spent most of two years getting right, though Sabalenka has never really faded away.
The difference is that Sabalenka has sustained success and wins her share of finals, but she also often gets beaten. She will be remembered as a historically great player, though not one who was dominant at the end of tournaments. Her finals record among all events is 24-20. The first number is excellent, but the second number is not so good.
Elena Rybakina dismisses Aryna Sabalenka in the 2026 US Open final and cements her No. 1 ranking
Compared to someone like Iga Swiatek, who is 26-5 in finals, one might wonder about the mental strength of Sabalenka at the last stages of tournaments. She isn't weak-minded, of course, and far from it, but she might simply have more raw skill than most other players, and when she runs into a player with a similar skill set, she struggles.
Rybakina is one of the few players who can actually overpower Sabalenka at times. While the latter might have been motivated to win the US Open because the former would overtake her for the No. 1 ranking on the WTA Tour on Monday, Rybakina was also striving to win her first US Open title and had been in better form over the year.
In the first set, Sabalenka often showed her disappointment when missing a shot, including launching a ball deep into the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd after dropping the opening set. Rybakina, as she often does, remained stoic, not allowing her feelings to overcome her focus on one point and then the next point, and so on.
The Kazakhstani took the opening set 6-4 while playing exceedingly efficient tennis and not having too many unforced errors (just five total), while Sabalenka had more winners (12 to 10), but 15 unforced errors. Not coincidentally, when the two players met in the final of the 2026 Australian Open, Rybakina also won the opening set 6-4. Was this a sign that history would repeat?
The second set was no less stressful. Each player held to 5-all, but with Sabalenka serving, the game went to deuce. The two-time champion was trying to three-peat even while losing her No. 1 ranking come Monday. Plus, she was trying to defeat the player who had taken her ranking from her, and also the person who had defeated her in the final of the Australian Open this year.
No matter what Sabalenka did in the final, she was falling to No. 2, but she at least didn't have to relinquish her US Open title along with it. The tennis fight was real.
As great players often do, Sabalenka came through at the tightest moments, getting a break of Rybakina at the end of the second set to win it 7-5. A third set in the last major of the year between the two best players on the WTA Tour was only fitting, but the outcome was unknown.
In the third game of the third set, however, Rybakina got a break and simply needed to hold to take the match. Sabalenka losing her No. 1 ranking to the very player on the verge of stealing her US Open crown would be painful, but that is what was unfolding.
To make matters worse, Rybakina got a second break at 4-2, and she only needed a hold to win her first US Open title. She was suddenly the obvious best player on the WTA Tour, and she was about to prove it.
Elena Rybakina did hold, and she won the third major of her career. She is the new queen of women's tennis, and she earned her second Grand Slam title of 2026 by defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the third set of the US Open, 6-2.
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