Aryna Sabalenka rolled into New York two weeks ago as the No. 1 player in the world and the two-time defending US Open champion.
Over the course of those two weeks, leading up to Saturday’s final, Elena Rybakina claimed Sabalenka’s No. 1 ranking, halted her US Open run, and reduced her to a seething, racket-smashing fury.
Not bad for a fortnight’s work, not bad for another chapter in what’s developing into the finest rivalry in women’s tennis.
Sabalenka and Rybakina are the two finest players in women’s tennis right now, and their US Open final match — which ended with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 Rybakina victory — was always going to be a heavyweight fight, strength on strength.
But over the course of three sets, Rybakina turned Sabalenka’s greatest asset — her furious willpower — against her, hemming Sabalenka in on all sides and, by the end of the match, smothering all hope.
Rybakina didn’t overwhelm Sabalenka with dominant tennis. She didn’t wow the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium with artistic tennis. She simply played relentless tennis — minimising her own mistakes, taking advantage of Sabalenka’s many errors, and never letting the match get too far out of her control.
Every match hinges on which player will exploit the narrow margins that lead to victory or defeat, and time and time again, Rybakina kept the match close enough to the point where she could exploit those margins. The two were tied at 71 points apiece heading into the final set; Rybakina ended up with 103 points to Sabalenka’s 90.
“It’s really tough to control your emotions when you’re in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat,” a calmer — but in no way apologetic — Sabalenka explained afterward. –YahooSports
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