Elena Rybakina closed out the biggest match of her season the way she has closed out most of them: with a serve nobody could get a racket on. Her 12th ace of the final landed on championship point, sealing a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 win over Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday 12 September at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The winning ace also settled the 2026 Grand Slam ace race. Both players had served 115 aces at majors this year going into the final point, a WTA Tour record for one season. Rybakina’s 116th nudged her clear of the Belarusian, and also clear of Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, who ended the majors year on the same 115.
“It’s going to be very different to wake up tomorrow morning knowing that I just won the US Open and achieved the No. 1 ranking,” Rybakina said after the win.
Season-record 2026 Grand Slam ace leaders
- Elena Rybakina: 116
- Aryna Sabalenka: 115
- Linda Noskova: 115
- Naomi Osaka: 107
- Marta Kostyuk: 83
Across the full WTA Tour in 2026, Rybakina has served 411 aces so far, well clear of Noskova on 336 and Sabalenka on 281.
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Third slam and a new world No. 1
The US Open was Rybakina’s third career Grand Slam title, after Wimbledon in 2022 and the Australian Open in January, where she also converted match point with an ace. The Kazakh is now one Roland Garros trophy from completing the Career Slam.
The final also ended Sabalenka’s run at world No. 1. The Belarusian had held the top ranking for 99 consecutive weeks before Saturday’s defeat handed the position to Rybakina, who took two hours and 21 minutes to win the match.
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