Aryna Sabalenka ends slump, reaches fourth straight US Open final; new No. 1 Elena Rybakina awaits | Tennis News
NEW YORK CITY: Aryna Sabalenka wanted this one badly. Not just another US Open semi-final, not just another step towards a third straight title, but a chance to bury the troubled middle of her 2026 season. Against Jessica Pegula, in front of a partisan Arthur Ashe crowd, she did just that, producing a 7-5, 6-2 victory in one-hour and 20 minutes.The top seed and two-time defending champion, into her fourth straight title round at the final Grand Slam of the year, had started the year in stellar fashion. She made the Australian Open final before sealing the sunshine double, winning the WTA 1000 events in Indian Wells and Miami. Thereafter, she hit a slump. Across the next seven tournaments, including two Grand Slams and four 1000s, her best result was a semi-final, and that came at the 500 event in Berlin.Then again, it wasn’t simply about not winning titles. It was the way she was losing, notably at Roland Garros, where she led Diana Shnaider 6-3, 5-3 before losing the final 10 games of the match.Sabalenka needed to get over the slump, and she did it in stellar fashion, slamming seven aces and 29 winners.In Saturday’s final, she will play Kazakh Elena Rybakina, who advanced to her first US Open final a day after securing the world No. 1 ranking. The 27-year-old rallied from a set down to beat American Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours, eight minutes.It was a starlit evening for women’s tennis in New York. For the first time in 51 years, all four top seeds reached the US Open semi-finals, a feat not seen at any women’s singles major since Wimbledon in 2009.Sabalenka, who improved to 10-4 in head-to-head clashes against Pegula, explained why she wanted the win so badly.“I wasn’t really performing well in the middle part of the season, I lost a tough match on grass against Jess,” she said of her loss in Berlin where she was bageled in the decider. “So it kind of feels, talking about Grand Slams, like a last push for the season. I wanted badly to go to the final, and of course, I want to go all the way.”“The mentality was just I’m ready. I’m ready for whatever it’s going to take to get the win,” the 28-year-old Belarussian said.“I just love New York, love being here, love the energy of the city. I think that’s what drives me,” she said.It is fitting that Sabalenka, who has completed 99 weeks atop the rankings this week, will play Rybakina in the title match.Sabalenka said, “I can only focus on myself, stay in the moment and do my best. Maybe I will take it back from her (one day). But, yeah, it does feel a little bit weird. You can perform well in the tournament but still have No. 1 position taken away.”Sabalenka did well to block out the crowd in the semi-finals, throwing a towel over herself during changeovers.“The last couple of months really taught me how to shut down the outside noise,” she said. “I finally learnt to focus on myself and forget about the outside noise. It sounds simple, but it’s not really simple to do sometimes..”With the win, Sabalenka becomes the first player in the Open Era to reach eight consecutive Grand Slam hard-court finals, surpassing the seven in a row achieved by Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Novak Djokovic.Sabalenka and Rybakina will meet for the 18th time on Saturday, with the Belarusian leading their head-to-head 10-7. It will be their third meeting in a Grand Slam final, with the pair splitting the previous two.“She’s a very aggressive player. It’s difficult to play with her, mentally, physically, because she has a big game, big serve,” the Kazakh said. “I will need to come with all the energy, bring my best serve and make the right decisions in the right moment, because most of the times it’s a tight, tight score.”
