Silence is Golden: Rybakina wins US Open

The fact that Jake Paul and Paris Hilton were in Sabalenka’s box tells you everything you need to know about the different personalities involved. The final had an added edge to it, with Rybakina guaranteed to become world No.1 regardless of the result, bringing Sabalenka’s two-year reign to an end. Also, victory for Sabalenka would have made her just the 3rd woman in the Open Era to win three successive US Open titles (the others being Chris Evert and Serena Williams).

Rybakina wins topsy turvy match

Rybakina’s serve- a key weapon for her brand of first-strike tennis- misfired quite badly in the first set. But she was a demon on return, heaping pressure on nearly every Sabalenka service game. The Kazakh won the first set 6-4 only for the Belarusian powerhouse to finally find her radar in the 2nd. But the Kazakh produced her best tennis coming down the stretch, playing near faultless tennis in that 3rd set to snatch the title away from an increasingly irritable and frustrated Sabalenka. The Belarusian couldn’t hide her frustration, smashing her racquet into the floor in a classless post-match hissy-fit. It looked especially petulant given Rybakina’s chaste celebrations.

Rybakina shakes ankle injury and poor New York form

For Rybakina, this was the culmination of a year’s worth of incredible work. Everybody knows how dangerous Rybakina can be. But there was always a sense that she had perhaps underperformed on the bigger stages. But her glorious run to last year’s WTA Finals title unlocked a new, more clinical side to the Kazakh baseliner. She conquered this year’s Aussie Open and remained a consistent threat in the latter stages of events. But a persistent ankle issue almost saw her withdraw from this year’s US Open. Prior to this year, Rybakina had never gone beyond the 4th round in New York (which is crazy when you look at her game and the court conditions). I think that her demure, unassuming on-court persona often wilted in the face of the chaotic New York atmosphere.

Doing things the hard way

She also had to negotiate a nightmare draw, facing four consecutive Grand Slam or Olympic champs. She thrashed Osaka in the Round of 16 and had to come from a set down in back-to-back matches against Zheng and Gauff. Winning against Gauff- in that atmosphere- was key. The place was silent as a crypt every time she won a point, yet she somehow managed to motivate herself to come back from a set down. And she was utterly exceptional in that final set against Sabalenka. Ordinarily, Sabalenka’s Grand Slam final defeats have been characterized by capitulation or serving yips, etc. This was simply a case of Rybakina proving why she has earned the No.1 ranking. Rybakina’s victory means that she just needs the French Open to complete the career Grand Slam! Swiatek will be hunting the career slam in Melbourne while Rybakina will look to conquer Paris. Exciting times. Sidenote: let’s hope that Rybakina’s rise to prominence heralds a new generation of less ‘audible’ players (Sharapova did so much damage to the game).

The Bully becomes the Bullied

Does Sabalenka have a Grand Slam final problem? She is now 4-5 in Grand Slam finals. Moreover, this will be the first year in which she hasn’t won a slam since 2022. I just think she has a bit of an Elena Rybakina problem. The Kazakh now leads the Belarusian 5-2 in their meetings in WTA finals. Sabalenka is used to having her way with the rest of the draw (especially on hard surfaces). She is so used to dominating opponents with her power that she gets discombobulated when she meets Rybakina. Emotionally stoic and silent as a monk, Rybakina is the one player on tour who can match Sabalenka’s power shot for shot. Sabalenka’s alpha-female status is threatened by the Kazakh, which causes her to abandon strategy and get sucked into mano a mano slugfests. She has plenty of thinking to do.