Elena Rybakina Earns Praise From Fans After US Open Final Win

It’s safe to say that 2026 in tennis will go down as “The Year of Elena Rybakina.” After claiming the Australian Open earlier this year, she ends the Grand Slam season by taking down World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka to claim the US Open.

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Rybakina set the tone early, winning the first set 6-4. But Sabalenka would not go down on straight sets and rallied to claim the second one with a 7-5 score. But on the third and final set of the day, Rybakina showed why she deserves to be the top player in the world, taking down Sabalenka with a dominating 6-2 score to claim the match.

With her win, Rybakina secured her third career Grand Slam title in her third event. She only needs to win the French Open to earn a career Grand Slam. She also ended Sabalenka’s streak of back-to-back US Open titles.

Praise for the New Champ

Tennis fans had plenty of praise for Rybakina on social media after her big win:

“Congrats to Elena!! Great tournament!! Totally deserved!! Happy for her!!” one user wrote on X.

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“I honestly think Elena Rybakina doesn’t get anywhere near the recognition she deserves. What she’s achieved is absolutely incredible, yet WTA and everyone else act like they couldn’t care less. If Coco Gauff or Iga Swiatek had done this, the whole place would be flooded with posts about them. But I’ll keep saying it: Elena Rybakina is the world No. 1 and the US Open champion,” wrote another.

“Well deserved, so glad Aryna didn’t win this,” a third remarked.

“Career Grand Slam incoming,” another predicted.

“No drama. No theater. Just great tennis. Well done Elena.”

Rybakina had to run a gauntlet just to reach the Final. She took down two-time US Open champion Naomi Osaka in the fourth round, former World No. 4 Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals and current World No. 4 Coco Gauff in the semifinals just to set up her rematch with Sabalenka with the title on the line.

The stars are aligning for Rybakina to perhaps become the new face of women’s tennis very, very soon.

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This story was originally published September 12, 2026 at 7:10 PM.