Women’s No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina will have a lot to celebrate come Monday after defeating top seed Aryna Sabalenka 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the US Open women’s singles final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday.
Rybakina not only won her first career title at Flushing Meadows, but will also replace Sabalenka atop the women’s tennis rankings.
It only took Rybakina 44 minutes to dispatch Sabalenka 6-4 in the first set.
The Belarusian Sabalenka looked at odds with herself for a good portion of the opening set, making her feelings known about the struggles as she mouthed her displeasure to herself and her coaching box.
And in an even more shocking outcome, Rybakina, the Russian-born Kazakhstani, won the set while only completing only 27% of her first serves in. Despite her struggles, she only lost eight of the 30 points off her serve and never faced a break point.
