Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan won the U.S. Open, which carried a total purse of $108 million, beating Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in a head-to-head final that also sealed Rybakina's rise to the world No. 1 ranking, a spot Sabalenka had held for 99 weeks.
Rybakina beat Sabalenka 2-1 (6-4, 5-7, 6-2) in the women's singles final at Flushing Meadows in New York on the 13th, Korea time, in a match that lasted 2 hours and 21 minutes.
The victory gave Rybakina her third career major title, after Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year. With two major titles this season alone, she has now displaced Sabalenka, who had held the world No. 1 ranking for the past 99 weeks. Only the French Open trophy now stands between her and a career Grand Slam.
Rybakina, born in 1999, had already clinched the No. 1 spot in advance by reaching the semifinals of this tournament. Having switched her nationality from Russia to Kazakhstan in 2018, she also becomes the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach No. 1. She narrowed her career head-to-head record against Sabalenka to 8-10 and takes home $5.5 million in prize money, or about 7.4 billion won.
The title was hard-won after injury. Rybakina had retired from a quarterfinal at the Cincinnati Open three weeks earlier with a foot injury, and went a full week without training ahead of this tournament, leaving her participation in doubt until the day before it began. She then beat a string of major champions, including Naomi Osaka of Japan, Coco Gauff of the United States and Sabalenka, before kissing the trophy. "Something magical happened. I was unlucky with the injury, but I gave my best every single day," Rybakina said, adding with a smile, "I've been coming to this tournament for 10 years and had never made it here. New York is growing on me more and more now."
