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Reuters

Agence France-Presse

The stars aligned in Elena ⁠Rybakina’s favour for a US ⁠Open triumph the Kazakh never expected ⁠on Saturday, as she leaves New York the champion and new world No 1 despite an injury that almost derailed her campaign.
Rybakina beat the twice defending champion Aryna Sabalenka for the trophy little more than three weeks after an ankle injury that forced her out of the ‌Cincinnati tune-up tournament, raising serious questions over whether she would even compete in New York.
“I was so upset. I didn’t know actually how it’s going to be day by day. We arrived in New York. We did MRI. It didn’t look that great. We had to talk with a lot of doctors to get opinions [on] what we should do,” she said.
“For seven days I was just going from ⁠my hotel room to the gym, three hours there spending, a lot of recovery, treatments.”
Fears over her fitness slowly ‌melted away through a series of comprehensive victories, as she beat twice winner Naomi Osaka to get past the fourth round for the first time and overcame the 2023 ‌champion Coco Gauff in the semi-final.

And she marched confidently into Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, ⁠having already assured an ⁠end to Sabalenka’s 99-week run at the top of the rankings.
“It’s tough to find words right now, honestly. I didn’t expect nothing like ‌this coming to this tournament,” said Rybakina, after collecting her third major title and second of the season. “Somehow everything aligned together.”
The win marks the latest ‌chapter ‌in a prolific rivalry, the 18th meeting between the two players in a compelling cat-and-mouse saga.
Rybakina beat Sabalenka ‌in the title match at the 2025 WTA Finals, before besting the Belarusian in the Australian Open final little ⁠more than two months later.
Sabalenka took the momentum back – for a handful of weeks, at least – as she ⁠beat the Kazakh in the Indian Wells final and in the penultimate stage in Miami.
“I don’t know what future will bring, but it’s always very difficult matches against Aryna, and I feel like ‌we push each other to ‌be better after such tough battles,” she told reporters.
“I feel like not only with her, with also other players, top players. You always want to try something new, to change in your game, to be better.
“I don’t know what the future is going to bring, but I hope success and some more wins.”
Sabalenka, denied a third consecutive US Open title and toppled from the world No 1 spot, vowed to come back stronger after a season of disappointment.
“I think overall I should be happy with the level I played, and there’s lots of things to take from this tournament,” said the 28-year-old Belarusian, who had looked more than capable of salvaging her grand slam season before she ran into the buzz saw of Rybakina.
But for the first time since 2022, she will end the year without a grand slam title.
Rybakina beat her in the Australian Open final, and she fell in the quarter-finals of the French Open before a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon.

In fact, it has all been a slog for Sabalenka since she won the prestigious Indian Wells-Miami double in March.
“As experience shows, I only come back stronger, and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do (a) better job.”
And she’ll take pride in a reign at No 1, a place she has held for a total of 107 weeks – including the stretch of 99 straight weeks that will end on Monday.
“Ninety-nine? Well, that’s amazing,” she said. “Let’s see if Elena can beat me in that.”


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Tennis

The Kazakh beat holder Aryna Sabalenka little more than three weeks after ankle injury raised questions over whether she would even compete


The Kazakh beat holder Aryna Sabalenka little more than three weeks after ankle injury raised questions over whether she would even compete.


Elena Rybakina

Aryna Sabalenka

From injury fears to triumph, ‘everything aligned’ at US Open, Elena Rybakina says

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The Kazakh beat holder Aryna Sabalenka little more than three weeks after ankle injury raised questions over whether she would even compete

The Kazakh beat holder Aryna Sabalenka little more than three weeks after ankle injury raised questions over whether she would even compete