Elena Rybakina defeats Aryna Sabalenka to win 2026 US Open and rise to World No. 1
Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 to win the 2026 US Open women’s singles title at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York on September 18, 2026, and in doing so became the new World No. 1.
Rybakina’s victory capped a season that vaulted her from earlier struggles at Grand Slams to the sport’s summit: she failed to progress beyond the fourth round at the Majors last year but closed that campaign with a Ningbo title and a WTA Finals win over Sabalenka that earned her more than $five million in prize money. After an off-season layoff she reached the Australian Open final without dropping a set and recovered from 0-3 down in the third set to beat Sabalenka for her second major, becoming the first player in eight years to win the WTA Finals and the Australian Open back-to-back.
Across the season she added a Stuttgart title, finished runner-up at Indian Wells and the Canadian Open and notched her 400th career victory. Since last year’s US Open she has recorded 62 match wins, defeated 16 top-10 opponents with a 16-6 record, led the tour in winners (1,569) and aces (394), saved 65.5% of break points and reached six finals — tied with Jessica Pegula — converting four titles, more than any other player.
Her rise in the rankings was rapid: Rybakina became the first player from Kazakhstan to reach World No. 1 and did so at 27 years and 89 days, making her the second-oldest woman to attain the top spot for the first time. A year ago she had 3,833 points to Aryna Sabalenka’s 11,225; by last month the gap had narrowed to 360 points before she ended Sabalenka’s 99-week reign. Even before ascending she had beaten a reigning World No. 1 nine times — a mark bettered only by Gabriela Sabatini’s 10 — and had beaten nine of the last ten women who held the top ranking, with only Ashleigh Barty avoiding defeat.
Rybakina’s path to the US Open title was marked by questions over fitness after she was beaten decisively by Iga Swiatek for the Canadian Open crown on August 14 and retired after five games of her Cincinnati quarter-final against Swiatek with a suspected Achilles issue. She practised for just four days before the US Open and underwent an MRI in New York; hours after winning the title she said: “It wasn’t the best time, for sure, because I was so upset. I didn’t know how it was going to be, day by day. We arrived in New York, did an MRI and it didn’t look that great. We had to talk with a lot of doctors to get an opinion on what we should do.”
In the final Rybakina managed only eight first serves from 30 in the opening set but leaned on heavier, quicker second serves and deep, powerful groundstrokes to unsettle Sabalenka and seize control at key moments, notably the last game of that set; the match concluded 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. Reflecting on her preparation and recent run she said: “Just four days of practice, a lot of belief in myself and talking with the team non-stop about the tactics... that’s how I played in Canada, how I played in Cincinnati. I mean, it’s just so many things. Everything went my way. I’m shocked.”
Rybakina’s off-court history with coach Stefano Vukov featured in recent seasons: she dismissed Vukov in September 2024, briefly hired Goran Ivanisevic and then reinstated Vukov; a WTA investigation later found Vukov had engaged in abusive conduct and he was banned from coaching at WTA events in January 2025, a ban that was overturned on appeal in August. After winning the WTA Finals on November 8 she declined to pose for a photograph with then-CEO Portia Archer; she has said recently about her current setup: “I think I have a very good team and good people around me now. It definitely helps. A lot was going on in the previous year outside of the court. I think now all my focus is on tennis. I can’t always perform at my best. There are always ups and downs, but I think we’ve been doing a very good job, taking the right decisions in certain situations, because every day is a challenge.”
Rybakina will enter upcoming events as the top seed, beginning with the China Open later this month; after her quarter-final win over Qinwen Zheng she said: “I feel like you will appreciate and think about it [becoming World No. 1] even more when you finish your career. For now, you need to keep going. You never know how long you’re going to stay. All my thoughts are just for the next match.”