Elena Rybakina Crowned US Open Champion in Star-Studded Final

Arthur Ashe Stadium did not just host a final on Saturday night. It staged a coronation.

Under the New York lights, with Hollywood faces scattered across the stands, Elena Rybakina outlasted Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win her first US Open title, claim a third Grand Slam crown, and seal her rise to No. 1 in the world. A two-time defending champion was pushed off her throne; a new standard-bearer walked through the door.

A heavyweight final with a celebrity backdrop

From the moment the players walked onto Arthur Ashe, the night felt bigger than a tennis match. Pink, Andrew Garfield, Amy Adams, Paris Hilton, Jake Paul, Brad Pitt, and a string of other familiar faces turned the women’s final into a collision of sport and celebrity.

Pink, in heart-shaped red-tinted sunglasses and a denim jacket, watched from the stands with Amy Adams and Elizabeth Banks, the trio often caught laughing between points as the tension built on court. It was a rare light touch in a week where Pink had been at the center of a storm, having just addressed backlash over her criticism of Macklemore’s pro-Palestinian performances and her repost calling for his removal from Ed Sheeran’s tour.

The cameras cut from baseline rallies to star-studded rows. Andrew Garfield, fresh from the event’s blue carpet, settled into his seat in a navy zip-up jacket, matching pants, and sunglasses, keeping his look understated as the match around him refused to follow suit.

Paris Hilton and her husband Carter Reum watched intently, while Jake Paul and fiancée Jutta Leerdam offered a more modern snapshot of fandom, checking their phones between points before Paul leaned in for a kiss. A Grand Slam final, 2026-style.

Brad Pitt and Ines de Ramon added another layer of intrigue, quietly taking in the action, while Andy Cohen sat beside Diplo, and Spike Lee did what Spike Lee always does in New York sports arenas: waved energetically, played to the crowd, and soaked up the atmosphere. Saturday Night Live’s Marcello Hernández joined the list of familiar faces, part of a crowd that blurred the lines between red carpet and courtside.

Rybakina rises, Sabalenka falls

On court, the script was sharper. Rybakina, already a Wimbledon champion and major winner elsewhere, had never lifted the trophy in New York. Sabalenka arrived as the two-time defending champion, the woman who had owned this court for the last two years.

Rybakina struck first, taking the opening set 6-4, her clean, flat hitting pinning Sabalenka back. The Belarusian, true to form, refused to go quietly. She clawed her way through the second set, 7-5, dragging the final into a decider and hinting at another trademark comeback.

The pressure finally told in the third. Rybakina tightened her grip, broke early, and never loosened it. The final set raced away from Sabalenka, 6-2, as the Kazakh star’s composure and weight of shot turned the match decisively in her favor. When the last point ended, Sabalenka’s reign in New York was over; Rybakina’s era at the top of the rankings was officially underway.

Legends in the house

High above the court, history watched on.

Billie Jean King, the 82-year-old icon whose name is etched into the very fabric of this tournament, sat among the guests. Her own résumé – 12 Grand Slam singles titles, four of them at the US Open – hung in the air as a reminder of the lineage Rybakina now joins.

Down on the court, another former champion played a more direct role. Maria Sharapova, who lifted this trophy in 2006, stepped forward for the trophy ceremony, presenting Rybakina with the prize exactly 20 years after her own New York triumph. The image was striking: one champion from a previous generation handing the symbol of supremacy to the woman now sitting atop the sport.

Around them, the stands were dotted with more familiar faces. Abigail Spencer, Fran Drescher, and Tyriq Withers were among those taking in the spectacle, part of a crowd that treated the women’s final as the must-see ticket of the fortnight.

When the lights dimmed and the stadium began to empty, the story was simple. The celebrities would drift back to their worlds. The debate around Pink would move to another platform. The photos of Pitt, Garfield, Hilton, and the rest would circulate for days.

But the enduring image from this night in New York is Elena Rybakina, trophy in hand, stepping into the role of world No. 1 on the sport’s loudest stage.