Sabalenka seeks return to form as US Open begins amid ranking battle
Aryna Sabalenka arrives in New York as the two-time defending US Open champion and will attempt to rediscover form when the tournament starts on Sunday. The 28-year-old Belarusian comes into the event after a season that has mixed peak success with a subsequent dip in results.
Earlier this year Sabalenka completed the Indian Wells–Miami 'Sunshine Double', becoming only the fifth woman to win those titles back-to-back and building a 3,000-point lead at the top of the world rankings. She has four Grand Slam singles titles — two Australian Open and two US Open triumphs — all on hard courts, but her post-Miami record stands at 17-7 and includes a French Open quarter-final exit and a Wimbledon fourth-round defeat.
Sabalenka acknowledged the challenge of regaining momentum on hard courts, saying: "Absolutely. These tough lessons are definitely going to make me way, way stronger and working even harder." She has also spoken about addressing her mindset, adding: "I work on my mental side of the game. I've been trying to reset my mind and to come back stronger," and "It's only a matter of time for me to come back."
Recent match details underline the inconsistency that has followed her Miami triumph: in Cincinnati she lost to 20-year-old Sara Bejlek after leading 5-1 in the first-set tie-break and 4-1 in the second, the score finishing 7-6 (9-7) 6-4. At Toronto she was beaten by Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16 as her serve faltered, and during the clay swing she surrendered matches after winning the first set to Hailey Baptiste in Madrid, Sorana Cirstea in Rome and Diana Shnaider at Roland Garros.
Ranking dynamics add urgency to Sabalenka's US Open campaign: she has 2,000 points to defend at Flushing Meadows and Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina is now trailing by only 434. Rybakina, who beat Sabalenka to win the Australian Open in January, has fewer ranking points to defend than Sabalenka and is carrying an ankle injury sustained in the Cincinnati quarter-finals.
Rybakina can secure the world number one ranking if Sabalenka, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff do not win the title; if Sabalenka does retain the US Open crown, Rybakina would still rise to number one by reaching the semi-finals. Pegula, 32, arrives having reached the Washington and Cincinnati finals and was the 2024 US Open finalist, while Gauff, who beat Pegula to the Cincinnati trophy last week, won her first major in New York in 2023 and is reported to have returned with more confidence and fluidity in her serve.
On the men's side the recurring rivalry between Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz is again on pause after the pair swept all eight major titles between them in 2024 and 2025, with Alcaraz extending that run by winning this year's Australian Open. Alcaraz missed the French Open and Wimbledon with a wrist injury and makes his comeback from a four-month absence in New York; a day after he announced his return Sinner revealed he had been ruled out with a knee issue. "It's kind of weird. We are not going see each other for, like, six months now, seven months," said Alcaraz.
Novak Djokovic, a four-time US Open champion, reached the semi-finals last year where he lost in straight sets to Alcaraz and remains a contender as a 24-time Grand Slam champion who has not put an "expiry date" on his extraordinary career. Germany's Alexander Zverev leads the seedings after winning his first Slam at the French Open before losing to Sinner at Wimbledon; Canadian Open champion Ben Shelton and Cincinnati finalist Frances Tiafoe head the American challenge, and 2024 finalist Taylor Fritz is another domestic hope.
Sabalenka faces clear on-court and ranking stakes at Flushing Meadows: to extend her 99-week run as world number one she must defend the points on offer, while Rybakina's position means the top ranking could change hands depending on how far the contenders progress.
