The champion under the lights 📷 https://t.co/Ev39p5dhxJ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 13, 2026
In the US Open women's singles final, Elena Rybakina defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in a resounding victory. Rybakina won the Australian Open at the beginning of the season, making it two grand slam titles for her in 2026. Win or lose against Sabalenka, Rybakina was going to claim the world No. 1 spot, but by defeating Sabalenka, she sends a clear message that this year, she has been the best player on the WTA Tour.
Rybakina outplayed Sabalenka pretty thoroughly. She had 12 break point opportunities and converted three of those chances while Sabalenka had just three break point opportunities, only winning one of those chances. In terms of winning percentage on first serve, Rybakina had an advantage of 85%-69% and on winning percentage on second serve, she had an advantage of 66%-54%. Rybakina also was +6 in service aces (12-6). Just across the board, it was a dominant win for Rybakina.
What makes these two grand slam titles so impressive for Rybakina is the fact that Sabalenka has widely been considered the best hard court player in the women's game. By winning both hard court grand slams this year, Rybakina is also sending a message that she's not only the best in the world, but also the best in the world on the hard courts.
In addition to winning on hard court, Rybakina also has gone the distance on grass, winning Wimbledon in 2022 while also reaching the semifinals in 2024. She's shown she can contend on grass. It's just matter of figuring out clay. She has a pair of trips to the quarterfinals at Roland Garros in 2021 and 2024, so she's knocked on the door a couple of times, but no cigar. The fact that she is one slam away from a career slam is mighty impressive. If she can lift the trophy at Roland Garros, she'll enter a whole other stratosphere.
Overall, Elena Rybakina should feel great about how the US Open went and also how her 2026 season has gone. At 27 years of age, she had her best season yet and appears to only be getting started. I look forward to seeing how the rest of the season goes for her and what kind of momentum she takes with her in January when the Australian Open rolls around.
ATPGuy.com on X (Twitter) @atp_guy
ATPGuy.com on Facebook: @ATPGuyNation
ATPGuy.com on Bluesky: atpguydotcom.bsky.social
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X (Twitter), YouTube, and Bluesky: @slamdunk406
No comments:
Post a Comment