Elena Rybakina said waking up as the US Open champion and the world number one will validate all her hard work over the years, after dethroning Aryna Sabalenka at Flushing Meadows.

Sabalenka was chasing a US Open three-peat in Saturday's final, but Rybakina claimed her second grand slam title of 2026 – and her third overall – with a 6-4 5-7 6-2 success.

Having also won Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open earlier this year, Rybakina is now one of three women to claim three or more major titles since the start of the decade, along with Sabalenka (four) and Iga Swiatek (six).

She is also just the sixth woman to win both the Australian and US Open crowns in the same season, after Steffi Graf (1988-89), Monica Seles (1991-92), Martina Hingis (1997), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Sabalenka (2024).

Even before her eighth career win over Sabalenka – and her fifth in a final – Rybakina was guaranteed to replace her opponent as the new world number one, following 99 weeks at the top of the WTA rankings for the Belarusian.

And Rybakina feels the dual achievement tops everything else she has accomplished in her career. 

"It's going to be very different to wake up knowing that I just won the US Open and achieved the number one ranking," Rybakina said in her post-match press conference. 

"It's kind of a relief, because you do all the routines for the past two or three weeks. It's a lot of work. A lot of nerves, also. I feel that it's going to be amazing to wake up knowing I achieved such big things."

3 - Elena Rybakina has claimed a third career Grand Slam title - Rybakina is one of three players to claim 3+ Grand Slam titles since the start of the decade, along with Iga Swiatek (6) and Aryna Sabalenka (4). Trio.#USOpen | @usopen @WTA pic.twitter.com/L5XbQJH8HF

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) September 12, 2026

Sabalenka became the first player (male or female) in the Open Era to reach eight consecutive grand slam finals on hard courts, surpassing the seven reached by Graf (US Open 1987-90), Hingis (Australian Open 1997-00) and Novak Djokovic (US Open 2010-13).

But she has lost the last two of those to Rybakina, having also finished as the runner-up in Melbourne in January.

And in the closing stages of Saturday's defeat, Sabalenka showed her frustration by smashing her racket into the ground.

"It's really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of a grand slam and when you were trying to go for a three-peat," Sabalenka said.

"So I just wanted to let it go, because if I held it inside, right now or here or there on the court, I wouldn't be able to say a word, or I would just become not nice.

"I just wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside."

But Sabalenka is still determined to take some positives from the event, saying: "I think overall I should be happy with the level I played at, and there are lots of things to take from this tournament.

"Experience shows that I only come back stronger and all of these lessons this season have definitely already made me stronger. It's definitely going to motivate me for the next year, to do a better job."