Elena Rybakina: US Open Champion and New World No. 1
Elena Rybakina stands alone in New York now, the new US Open champion and the woman who has shifted the balance of power at the top of the women’s game.
Days after taking Aryna Sabalenka’s world No. 1 ranking, the Kazakhstani star walked into Arthur Ashe Stadium and beat her fiercest rival again, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, to lift a third Grand Slam title. Ranking confirmed. Supremacy underlined.
This was not a procession. It was a test of nerve, lungs and conviction.
Rybakina, already a champion at Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year, had to ride out Sabalenka’s familiar storm of power and emotion. She lost the second set after being broken late on her own serve, a moment that has crushed many in the cauldron of a major final. It barely left a mark.
The third set told the real story. Rybakina reset, wiped away the frustration and went after Sabalenka’s serve with cold precision. She stepped inside the baseline, read the direction, and hammered return after return back at the Belarusian, dragging errors, forcing shorter balls, turning defence into ruthless attack. Sabalenka’s shoulders tightened; Rybakina’s never did.
From the other side of the television screen, a former Wimbledon champion watched in admiration.
“Can you imagine that her previous best result here was the fourth round?” Marion Bartoli said on Sky Sports Tennis. “That’s extraordinary, to come here with all the pressure of the world, knowing she had the No. 1 world ranking on her racket, to actually go on and win the title.
“The way she bounced back at the beginning of the third set tonight for me, was absolutely extraordinary.
“It looked like she completely forgot what happened at the back end of that second set, when she got caught on her own service game.
“She just kept on moving on, and moving forward all the time. The way she attacked Sabalenka’s serve all the time, putting her under so much pressure.
“The ball-striking from that young lady is just something else. She can do anything on the tennis court. She’s only missing Roland Garros now from completing a career Grand Slam.”
Bartoli’s words captured what the numbers already hinted at. In the Open Era, no US Open champion had ever won the title by going the distance in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. Rybakina just did.
Three straight three-set battles at the sharp end of a major, all won. That is not just shot-making. That is conditioning, resilience and a belief that, when it gets tight, she will last longer and hit cleaner than whoever is across the net.
At 27, Rybakina now owns majors on hard courts and grass, and she has just conquered the most demanding fortnight in tennis with a series of physical and mental examinations. She leaves New York not just as world No. 1 and US Open champion, but as arguably the most complete athlete on the WTA Tour.
For now, she has earned the right to disappear for a while, to trade late-night practice sessions for a spell of quiet celebration and recovery. The tour will move on, as it always does, but one question will hang over the clay of Paris next spring.
With only Roland Garros missing, who is going to stop Elena Rybakina from turning this into a career Grand Slam?
