Elena Rybakina's victory at the 2026 US Open delivered two rare statistical achievements: after the final against Aryna Sabalenka, the Kazakhstani tennis player joined the ranks of Steffi Graf and Victoria Azarenka, infohub.kz reports.
According to OptaAce, Rybakina became only the second female player since the WTA rankings were introduced in 1975 to defeat the reigning world No. 1 twice in Grand Slam finals within a single season.
In both cases, her opponent was Sabalenka. In January, Rybakina beat the world No. 1 in the 2026 Australian Open final 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. Now she has again defeated the Belarusian in a major final — at the 2026 US Open.
Before Rybakina, only Steffi Graf had achieved this, in 1995. At Roland Garros, the German defeated Spain's Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, who was then ranked world No. 1. After that win, Graf herself returned to the top spot.
At the US Open that same year, Graf beat American Monica Seles in the final. After returning to the tour, Seles was granted co-world No. 1 status alongside Graf, so the decisive match in New York also pitted two players ranked No. 1 against each other.
Thus, 31 years later, Rybakina became the second woman on the tour to win two Grand Slam finals in a single calendar season against the reigning world No. 1.
Another achievement relates directly to Rybakina's path to the title in New York.
In the semifinals, the Kazakhstani defeated 2023 US Open champion Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. In the final, she faced Sabalenka, the winner of the previous two editions of the tournament. Rybakina thus defeated two former champions of the same major in the semifinals and final.
According to OptaAce, such a feat had not occurred in women's singles since the 2012 Australian Open. Then Victoria Azarenka defeated defending champion Kim Clijsters in the semifinals and 2008 Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova in the final.
Recall that in the decisive match, Rybakina beat Sabalenka in three sets — 6-4, 5-7, 6-2. The Kazakhstani won the US Open for the first time and claimed her third Grand Slam title after Wimbledon 2022 and the 2026 Australian Open.