Elena Rybakina Claims No. 1 Ranking and U.S. Open Title

Elena Rybakina didn’t just take Aryna Sabalenka’s No. 1 ranking on Saturday night in New York. She walked into Sabalenka’s house, ripped the trophy out of her hands, and planted her own flag at Flushing Meadows.

On a heavy, tense evening at the U.S. Open, Rybakina outlasted the two-time defending champion 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to capture her first title in New York and move one step from a career Grand Slam.

She had already been assured of the top spot in the rankings next week. This was about something else. This was about taking the crown on the court Sabalenka had ruled for two straight years.

“I don’t expect nothing like this coming to this tournament,” Rybakina admitted afterward, still trying to catch up emotionally to what she’d just done. She spoke of arriving with an injury, of doubts, of things not quite lining up. Then they did — perfectly — when it mattered most.

A streak snapped, a throne claimed

Sabalenka walked into the final riding a 19-match winning streak at the U.S. Open. She hadn’t lost here since Coco Gauff stopped her in the 2023 final. She was chasing history, aiming to become the first player since Serena Williams from 2012 to 2014 to win three straight titles in New York.

Rybakina ended that chase with a cold, clinical edge.

The match carried the weight of the occasion. It was only the third U.S. Open women’s final since 2000 to feature the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds. Serena Williams won the previous two, beating Venus Williams in 2002 and Victoria Azarenka in 2013. This time, the second seed flipped the script.

Rybakina, who represents Kazakhstan after being born in Russia, has built her résumé methodically. Wimbledon champion in 2022. Australian Open champion earlier this year, again beating Sabalenka on a hard court in Melbourne. Now the U.S. Open. Only Roland Garros stands between her and a career Grand Slam at 27.

The symbolism was hard to miss. Sabalenka had owned this event. Rybakina didn’t just inherit her ranking; she took her title, on her turf, in a three-set fight.

The turning of the match

The first two sets were a tug-of-war, neither woman giving much away. Rybakina edged the opener 6-4, using her first-strike tennis to keep Sabalenka off balance. Sabalenka, as she so often does, refused to go quietly and clawed back to take the second 7-5, dragging the final into a decider and igniting the crowd.

Then came the moment that could have broken Rybakina.

Early in the third set, she yanked a backhand wide on break point in the opening game. The frustration flashed across her face. Against a front-running Sabalenka, that kind of miss can linger, can grow teeth.

It didn’t. It woke her up.

From that point, Rybakina seized control. Her serve locked in. Her groundstrokes found the corners. Sabalenka, who had beaten Rybakina twice already this year on hard courts at Indian Wells and Miami and led their head-to-head 10-8 coming in, suddenly looked the one chasing.

The pressure finally told. Rybakina ran away with the deciding set 6-2, her composure and weight of shot overwhelming a champion who has so often done the overwhelming herself.

Sabalenka, who has treated New York like a second home over the past three years, could only tip her cap.

“I really felt like home here and cannot wait to come back next year,” she said. “I wish I could perform a little bit better, but I guess next year.”

A new era, and one step left

This was not a bolt from the blue. Rybakina has been circling this moment for two seasons, her game built for the big arenas and the biggest occasions. The serve, the flat backhand, the calm under fire — they all travel.

But this night did something different. It tied her rise to a place and a player. She dethroned the woman who had ruled this court, in the final where the No. 1 ranking was changing hands. It felt less like a rankings update and more like a line in the sport’s history.

One major remains for the career Grand Slam: the French Open. Clay is the one surface where Rybakina has yet to impose herself over two weeks the way she has on grass and hard courts. That challenge now looms larger, and more intriguing.

For Sabalenka, there is the sting of a streak snapped and a title lost, but also the knowledge that this rivalry is far from finished. Their 18 meetings already tell a story of balance and friction at the very top of the women’s game.

New York, though, belongs to Rybakina now.

On Sunday, the spotlight shifts to the men’s final, with American Ben Shelton facing Alexander Zverev. But whatever happens there, the defining image of this U.S. Open may already be set: Elena Rybakina standing under the lights, trophy in hand, as the new No. 1 who didn’t wait for the crown to be handed over. She took it.