Elena Rybakina bests defending champion Aryna Sabalenka to win her first U.S. Open

Aryna Sabalenka crushed a ball into the stands and received a warning. She yelled at herself, smacked her first racket against the ground and then completely destroyed another after the match was over.

The two-time defending U.S. Open champion has been dethroned, losing to Elena Rybakina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final on Saturday. Denied the chance to become the third women’s player to win the American Grand slam tournament three times in a row, Sabalenka beat herself up throughout the 2-hour, 21-minute ordeal that was filled with self-inflicted mistakes.

“I just wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside (on the court),” Sabalenka said. “It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for (a) three-peat, so I just wanted to let it go.”

Sabalenka said she would not have been nice had she not expressed her frustrations. Mere minutes after the trophy ceremony, the 28-year-old from Belarus was complimentary of Rybakina but also still kicking herself for not living up to her own lofty expectations.

“I wish I could perform a little bit better, but I guess next year,” Sabalenka said. “Obviously, not really happy with the level I played (at).”

Making her fourth consecutive appearance in the U.S. Open final, Sabalenka committed 35 unforced errors. They clearly took a toll on a player who had been atop the WTA rankings for 99 consecutive weeks.

“I was just out there competing, trying to do my best with what I had,” Sabalenka said. “Not good enough.”

Three years since losing to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final, when she was clearly not the fan favorite against an opponent from the U.S., this time she felt the love from the crowd, which often tried to will her back into the match.

“At some point I felt like, ‘Oh my God, I feel American,'” Sabalenka said. “I just wish I could win it and feel the support even more. Not this year.”

Sabalenka failed to win any of the Grand Slams this year, the first time she has come up empty since 2022. But after making such a deep run following some summer struggles, she hopes to take positives out of the U.S. Open moving forward.

“I’ll just keep working hard and keep improving my tennis,” Sabalenka said. “There’s lots of things to take from this tournament. As experience shows, I only come back stronger, and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger. Definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do a better job.”