US Open: Rybakina defeats Sabalenka to win her third Grand Slam title

[p][b]00:30 CET - [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] takes down [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=rDbVIO5l"]6-4, 5-7, 6-2[/a] to win her first US Open title![/p][embed guid="463cf0cb-b0e4-48d3-8462-cb3dfa6d37c9" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2098904994997059643?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]This marks her 49th win of 2026 and her third Grand Slam title after defeating Sabalenka earlier this year at the Australian Open. Rybakina will officially take the world No. 1 spot when the updated WTA rankings are released on September 14th. [/p][p]Rybakina took down world No. 4 Coco Gauff and No. 13 Naomi Osaka en route to her title win over Sabalenka. She is now the first-ever representative of Kazakhstan to win the US Open for both men and women. [/p][p]Now, the only one missing to complete a Career Grand Slam is Roland Garros.[/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=rDbVIO5l"]Check out the full matchup stats with Flashscore![/a][/b][/p][embed guid="d9562f70-bf1d-4c07-bff8-7d4e73d626d4" url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCAQnmJBJIk" social-type="youtube" /][p][b]23:57 CET -[/b] [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] is back in it! The defending champion has dug deep to win the second set and force a decider in this epic final with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] on Arthur Ashe. The Belarusian squandered two set points at 5-4, but didn’t let that get to her, battling to a 7-5 set win in just shy of one hour.[/p][p]In the first set, Sabalenka racked up the unforced errors, but the tables turned in the second, with Rybakina committing 12 to eight. We're going the distance in New York![/p][embed guid="817bbada-3b07-42d6-ac27-e8feba862a28" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2098894294694138333" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]23:00 CET -[/b] It’s first blood to [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a], who has claimed the opening set 6-4 after breaking [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] in the fifth game on Arthur Ashe. Both players fired down three aces, but the defending champion committed 15 unforced errors in a sloppy start and has to bounce back now.[/p][p]Here’s a stat: The winner of the first set has won 14 out of 17 meetings between these two… over to you, Aryna![/p][embed guid="b994279f-32f2-4dbb-bb79-d5690437f413" url="https://x.com/usopen/status/2098880410549661994" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]22:07 CET - [/b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] are coming out onto Arthur Ashe Stadium for the final now, which means we are getting very close to finding out who will be the 2026 US Open women's champion.[/p][p][b]Follow the action with us here as we provide set-by-set updates or track every point live via the link above![/b][/p][image alt="Aryna Sabalenka arrives on court ahead of her women's singles final match against Elena Rybakina" id="01ce8755-bfd6-46a1-b66c-0d96fa6b9230" credit-line="REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz" guid="d3f50d87-feae-4e7c-8d72-9cb3670914aa" original-width="3682" original-height="2370" /][p][b]21:00 CET - [/b]We're only an hour away from the final of the women's singles tournament at the 2026 US Open between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a]! It promises to be a proper heavyweight bout between the incoming world number one, representing Kazakhstan, and the outgoing one from Belarus.[/p][video alt="Sabalenka vs Rybakina (video preview)" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="21451db1-11f5-4069-8c88-d12a5d0e52d2" id="2a05ccab-936f-47a2-82d5-8c72307945d5" /][p]Sabalenka leads their head-to-head record 10-7, although Rybakina did come out on top in their last clash at a major, winning the Australian Open final earlier this year. Since that contest, however, Sabalenka has won the last two meetings between the pair, both on hard courts and both in the US to boot.[/p][p]Will Sabalenka be celebrating a rare three-peat in Flushing Meadows tonight or will Rybakina be lifting her first US Open title? That's the question on the lips of every tennis fan this evening. Follow the action with us here as we provide set-by-set updates or follow every point live via the link above![/p][image alt="Recent head-to-head record" id="12f7ef99-9552-4477-a871-b1f696249696" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="b49a8517-4ef7-4469-916e-d0a2516052a6" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p]Earlier at the US Open, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/harrison-christian/tKNpgwfr/"]Christian Harrison[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/skupski-neal/KUAXIw8j/"]Neal Skupski[/a] beat [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/krawietz-kevin/EwLaAdNP/"]Kevin ⁠Krawietz[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/puetz-tim/CUhEqGYo/"]Tim Puetz[/a] to ‌win the men's doubles title - [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/tennis-us-open-atp-doubles-harrison-skupski-down-german-pair-to-claim-us-open-men-s-doubles-title/jwJwytbt/"]read all about that here[/a].[/p][p][b]19:53 CET -[/b] Standing in the way of a Sabalenka three-peat is [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a][/b], with the Kazakh set to become the new women's world number one when the rankings are updated on Monday.[/p][p]The Australian Open champion has looked far from her best at times throughout the tournament, but has managed to dig deep in several key moments to overcome former US Open champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Coco Gauff[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a], as well as Olympic gold medallist [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Qinwen Zheng[/a].[/p][p]Victory for Rybakina this evening would see her become only the third woman in the last two decades to win both hard-court majors in the same year.[/p][image alt="Rybakina's recent results" id="ac648121-e3cf-4fe4-8c93-8d63d774b44c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ddf3c7e6-b228-447c-92bd-5932cea5c94f" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]19:04 CET -[/b] Despite a challenging few months, top seed [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a][/b] has rediscovered her best form in New York this fortnight, with the Belarusian cruising through the draw, dropping just a single set across her six matches.[/p][p]The 28-year-old was forced to work hard in the last eight against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noskova-linda/zHMiAkw6/"]Linda Noskova[/a], coming through a final-set tiebreak, but she was imperious in the semi-finals against home favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a], producing a statement win in just 80 minutes.[/p][p]Sabalenka needs one more victory to secure a historic three-peat at the US Open, as she looks to become the first woman to win three successive titles at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2014.[/p][image alt="Sabalenka's recent results" id="937c1b65-e741-47ee-ba3e-8e6eb703382a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="da92dbd6-cac9-4c73-93ee-e9d25c5b907a" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]18:30 CET -[/b] Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 US Open women's final between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a]![/p][p]It's a heavyweight tussle between the two top seeds in New York, as two-time defending champion Sabalenka looks to secure a historic three-peat at Flushing Meadows, while incoming world number one Rybakina targets a third Grand Slam title and her second of 2026.[/p][image alt="Win probability" id="7cf83dbf-351e-4681-9bdd-3509f8478923" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ca27102f-331b-477c-9111-46027974e469" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]The final, which is due to get underway at [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=rDbVIO5l"]22:00 CET[/a][/b], is an 18th career meeting between the two players, with Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 10-7, although Rybakina did come out on top in their last clash at a major, winning the Australian Open final earlier this year.[/p][p][b]We'll be building up to the match over the next few hours, but why not read our [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/tennis-us-open-wta-singles-sabalenka-faces-rival-rybakina-in-blockbuster-us-open-final-with-three-peat-in-sight/joRlM8oB/"]in-depth preview of the final here[/a].[/b][/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]