New world No. 1 Elena Rybakina wins maiden US Open title in three-set thriller
By Jacob Lev, CNN
(CNN) — 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.
But like Sabalenka has done many times in her illustrious career, she battled back and looked more in control throughout the second set.
The 28-year-old, while up 5-4, had the chance to put the set away twice but both times, Rybakina drew right back to tie it up at 5-5.
Sabalenka was eventually able to close out the set 7-5 and force a decisive third set.
The 27-year-old Rybakina came out on a mission to start the third set, quickly jumping out to a 5-2 double-break lead, putting Sabalenka on the ropes.
At match point, Rybakina served up an ace to secure the victory.
The win gives Rybakina her third career grand slam, the first one since her win at the Australian Open earlier this year.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
The-CNN-Wire
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