Relive the 2026 U.S. Open women’s final with live coverage from The AthleticNEW YORK — Elena Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the U.S. Open final at Flushing Meadows Saturday.The No. 2 seed prevailed over the No. 1 seed in a match ultimately decided by Rybakina’s bulletproof protection of her serve, even when she had a difficult day with the shot, and the way she smothered Sabalenka from the baseline by keeping the ball down the middle and denying her opponent angles.It is Rybakina’s first U.S. Open title, and her third Grand Slam title overall. It means she leaves the tournament as both the champion and the new world No. 1: Rybakina will replace Sabalenka at the top of women’s tennis Monday.It leaves Sabalenka without a Grand Slam title in 2026.The Athletic’s writers, Ava Wallace and Matt Futterman, analyze the final and what it means for tennis.Why did a remarkable serve statistic define the opening set?Aryna Sabalenka made it to the final from the semifinals for one big reason: She absolutely destroyed Jessica Pegula’s second second serve.Her opponent’s second serve is so often Sabalenka’s bread and butter. She can step in and and send her opponent chasing backward or toward the tramlines, and often both all at once.If someone had told Sabalenka that Elena Rybakina would land just 30 percent of her first serves in the first set Saturday, Sabalenka surely would have signed on for that — while expecting to win the set or at least establish a lead.Rybakina did her part. She landed just 8 of 30 first serves, which amounts to 27 percent. That’s an unheard-of number just about anywhere on a professional tennis court, let alone in a final. That’s the woman widely considered to have the best serve in the game, a human metronome who can torture opponents on the first ball and leave them despairing at how they can possibly win a point or two, let alone break her.But Sabalenka couldn’t take advantage of Rybakina’s second serve in the way she so often does. Rybakina, the new world No. 1, can get a nasty kick on her ball, and she can also raise her speed to around 95 mph, rushing Sabalenka when she wants to get on top of the ball.Again and again, Sabalenka either missed her second-serve return entirely or couldn’t do enough with it. With Rybakina serving up 4-3, Sabalenka had two looks at a second serve, one at deuce and won at Ad-40 Rybakina. She sent both of them into the net.Overall, if players are above a 50 percent win rate on their second serve, they are feeling decent about themselves — especially against someone like Sabalenka. Rybakina was at 68 percent in the first set.Rybakina also did a good job of keeping Sabalenka on the defensive when the Belarusian missed her first serve, capturing 64 percent of the points on Sabalenka’s second serve.Rybakina had served about as poorly as any opponent could hope. When the opening stanza was over, she still had the edge.— Matt FuttermanWhy does no one dominate the US Open? Tifo SportsHow did the last game of the first set encapsulate Sabalenka’s problem?The final game of the first set just about summed up how things were going for Sabalenka. Rybakina couldn’t hit a first serve and Sabalenka threw everything at her, but still the new world No. 1 ended up the victor.Sabalenka’s cleverest move came at 30-15 in the final game, when she took a big step back before Rybakina’s second serve, daring her to really go for it. That drew a double fault, but on the next point Rybakina reset without issue and placed a nice serve near the middle of the box to win another quick rally.At 40-30, Sabalenka again stepped back to get a look at Rybakina’s second serve. She sent back a deep forehand return to save set point, but again couldn’t build any sort of momentum. At deuce, Rybakina — again on her second serve — won the longest rally of the game at all of nine shots, with a stunning backhand that just clipped the back of the line.Having spent the whole set on the back foot, Sabalenka tried everything she could to draw even and executed well. It still wasn’t enough.— Ava WallaceHow did a once-hostile crowd rise for Sabalenka’s comeback surge?Sabalenka has spent three years being the enemy in Arthur Ashe Stadium.She played Coco Gauff in 2023 and crumbled. She played Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova the next two years and stood tall to win the trophy.She came in Saturday and assumed the mantle of crowd favorite. The world No. 1 the past two seasons; the two-time champion in search of a three-peat and a star in a city that loves stars.Rybakina is not so well known to the kind of crowd that shows up for a major final in New York. It leans more wealthy and general interest rather than tennis diehard, even for a player who is about to take over the world No. 1 ranking and who had defeated Sabalenka to win the Australian Open in January.Aryna Sabalenka had the support of the fans above and around her in Arthur Ashe Stadium. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)As Sabalenka tried to claw her way into form in the second set, the roars and cheers for her echoed around Arthur Ashe stadium. They wanted more tennis, but they also wanted the star to do something historic, and that chance was there.Only Chris Evert and Serena Williams have won the U.S. Open three times in a row. Sabalenka has spoken openly about how she has come to love the New York, getting her table in a corner of the Polo Bar and Lounge and eating her steak. She even likes the traffic and the long slow rides out to Flushing Meadows.Over the past few years, even as she has broken local hearts, the New York crowd has come to love her too. Coco Gauff and Jessica Pegula in the semis. Sabalenka was next up to support.She got herself two set points with Rybakina serving at 4-5, with a scorching return winner off a 117 mph wide first serve.The crowd gave her one of those roars of reassurance and poised itself for an explosion.But then Sabalenka missed a neutral forehand well long on the first. On the second, Rybakina kicked in a vicious second serve that had Sabalenka lunging as she sent a backhand wide. Two more big serves and everyone had to go back to sitting on their hands. The explosion was on hold — but not permanently.— Matt FuttermanAnd how did she complete it?Despite all of her grimacing and self-talk and hitting her racket against her head, Sabalenka trusted herself enough to try the same tactic that she’d used at the end of the first set to turn the second set around in clutch time.Leading 30-0 in the final game of the set, Rybakina missed a first serve and Sabalenka once again took a long stride back to get a big cut on the return. But unlike at the end of the first set, she was able to finally put a couple of points together on Rybakina’s serve by leaning on the element of her game that worked so well for her against Rybakina when they played earlier this year in Indian Wells, Calif.Sabalenka used her variety. She finally found enough time and space to deploy an excellently placed drop shot — just her second of the match — to make it 30-30.Rybakina won the next point, but Sabalenka hung in the game like she hadn’t been able to before. Rybakina sent down another powerful first serve, but her feet got stuck in the court and she sent a lunging forehand long at deuce to give Sabalenka her third set point.On another second serve, Sabalenka threw her entire body behind a backhand to even the match. She won 60 percent of the points on Rybakina’s second serve for the set, up from 32 in the first.— Ava WallaceWhy did Rybakina’s overall game plan hurt Sabalenka so much?It happens to every No. 1 eventually. They run into someone who does things to them they struggle to handle, especially when big titles are on the line.Roger Federer couldn’t manage the Nadal forehand high into his backhand. Nadal struggled to manage Djokovic’s relentless defense and sharp angles.Iga Świątek succumbed to the raw power of Sabalenka and others and then figured out to counter it.Now Elena Rybakina has come for Aryna Sabalenka, especially in finals.Aryna Sabalenka could not impose herself on her match against Elena Rybakina. (Sarah Stier / Getty Images)Her win on Sunday came with the same formula she used to topple her at the WTA Tour Finals, at the Australian Open, and and at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, when she came within a point of beating Sabalenka in a third-set tiebreak.She banged balls hard up the middle, handcuffing Sabalenka, pinning her deep and preventing her from sweeping balls to the corners. She kept the pace high and redirected as early as she could, denying Sabalenka the chance to grow into the match and take control as she does to just about everyone else.Sabalenka wins by moving forward. Rybakina keeps her back. She has her U.S. Open trophy, and her world No. 1 ranking too.— Matt FuttermanWhat did Elena Rybakina say after the final?We’ll bring you their on-court quotes and press conference reflections as they come in.What did Aryna Sabalenka say after the final?We’ll bring you their on-court quotes and press conference reflections as they come in.