Mumbai: Last month, Elena Rybakina wasn’t sure if she would be able to play a match at the US Open. She played, and won, all seven.
Last season, Rybakina did not go past the fourth round of any of the four Grand Slams. This season, she went all the way in two.
Last year, on September 15, she was world No.10. On September 14, 2026, she will be world No.1.
Deep Dive
What challenges did Elena Rybakina face leading up to the US Open final?
How did Elena Rybakina's performance at the US Open compare to her previous Grand Slam results?
What were the key factors that contributed to Rybakina's victory over Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open final?
As the US Open champion. That’s some stamp of statement to go with the turnaround tale.
The Russian-born Kazakh wasn’t done dethroning the incumbent from the top spot. She took her title too on Saturday night. Rybakina defeated two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 for her first US Open crown after a high stakes, high quality final.
This was the 2022 Wimbledon champion’s third Grand Slam trophy, and second this year after beating the Belarusian at the Australian Open too, after a similar three-set back and forth.
Yet, this US Open triumph felt different, perhaps more special, for the 27-year-old. It takes a lot to get Rybakina to raise both her arms in celebration. Even more to walk around grinning. And even more to hold back tears on court.
“It’s going to be very different to wake up knowing that you won the US Open and achieved the No.1 ranking,” Rybakina said in the press conference. “This tournament was more stressful, because I was playing for No.1, and then this injury happened. Every day was a challenge.”
{{/usCountry}}“It’s going to be very different to wake up knowing that you won the US Open and achieved the No.1 ranking,” Rybakina said in the press conference. “This tournament was more stressful, because I was playing for No.1, and then this injury happened. Every day was a challenge.”
{{/usCountry}}That foot injury happened in Cincinnati 10 days before her first match in New York. Rybakina did not train for a week, and did not know how she would turn up at the US Open. With four straight-set sweeps in the first week and battling wins from a set down in the quarters and semis, Rybakina went from not making the last eight of the season-ending Slam before to being the last woman standing.
A frequent presence in the second week of majors, Rybakina wasn’t herself last season. Her long time coach, Stefano Vukov, was suspended by WTA in January 2025 for an alleged code of conduct breach but returned in August.
“A lot of things (were) happening,” said Rybakina of last season. “Now I feel like I have a great team, great people around me. We continued the work. And it finally paid off.”
That work gave her three biggest hard court titles -- the WTA Finals in 2025 and the two Slams in 2026, beating Sabalenka in all three finals. The Belarusian smashed her racquet and sat with her team in stunned silence after the match.
The on-court personalities of the two rivals couldn’t be more contrasting. Rybakina almost always keeps her emotions in check. Sabalenka almost always lets it rip.
She was on the edge emotionally early doors in the final. The battle between two of the biggest ball strikers on the women’s tour began with Rybakina executing two clean backhand winners and Sabalenka unleashing a couple of cracking ones off the forehand.
The latter’s though came while facing break points as the Sabalenka serve was under pressure. A stinging return and a solid backhand from the Kazakh set up another break point in the fifth game. Sabalenka double faulted, smacked the ball into the stands and received a code violation.
By the time Rybakina held to love for 4-2, she was yet to make an error and had dropped just two of the 14 points on serve. Not that the big-server was sending down bullets.
Rybakina made just 27% (8/30) first serves in the first set, a strikingly low percentage that Sabalenka’s indecisive returns and wayward play failed to cash in. Rybakina took the set despite her biggest weapon not even loading optimally.
It did load better in the second set even as Sabalenka, who thwarted early trouble on serve before her quality picked up, got better too. Her first break point came as set points in the 10th game but Rybakina held on. Little signs of annoyance cropped up from the second seed, and the top seed was tuned in to pounce. A drop shot winner for 30-30, a backhand crosscourt passing shot for deuce with Rybakina serving to stay in the set again. And when a wide Rybakina forehand set up a third set point, Sabalenka seized with a bludgeoning backhand second serve return that did not come back.
What did come back was Rybakina’s hitting quality, shot placement, first serve efficiency and the level that made her fly high in New York. And off she went flying immediately in the decider.
Rybakina broke Sabalenka in the third game during a sizzling spell early in the set where she won 12 of the 15 points. Finishing off a volley at the net, she broke again in the seventh game after a serving stranglehold of dropping just one point on the first strike. She lost two more while serving for the championship. It didn’t matter.
What mattered was the ace that sealed it. What mattered was that Rybakina’s status as the world No.1 came with the US Open title. Stamped and sealed.