Elena Rybakina is a major champion for the third time in her tennis career. On Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium in Flushing Meadows, New York, Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.
A key statistic in the 2026 women’s final was the ace. Rybakina had 12 aces while Sabalenka had six aces. Unforced errors were another key statistic. Rybakina had 24 unforced errors, while Sabalenka had 35 unforced errors.
Rybakina also kept her composure much better than Sabalenka. In the first set, American chair umpire Greg Allensworth decided to give Sabalenka a code violation for smashing her tennis ball into the stands. At the time, Sabalenka had just been broken by Rybakina. Then immediately after the match, Sabalenka smashed her racquets on the court.
This was the second time in 2026 that Rybakina beat Sabalenka in a grand slam women’s tennis final. At the Australian Open, Rybakina came through with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 win.
Rybakina’s other grand slam title came at Wimbledon in 2022. In that final, Rybakina defeated Ons Jabeur of Tunisia 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.
Rybakina made tennis headlines on Wednesday with her quarterfinal win over Qinwen Zhang of China. With a 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory, Rybakina moved into number one in the WTA rankings. Rybakina was going to be number one in the world on Monday just for qualifying for the semifinals. Even if Sabalenka won on Saturday, Rybakina was still going to be number one.
This was Rybakina’s third WTA title in 2026. In addition to her Australian Open win, Rybakina won the Stuttgart Open.
