Which player defeated the defending women’s champion in the 2026 US Open final?

Elena Rybakina defeated the defending women’s champion in the 2026 US Open final.

Rybakina beat Aryna Sabalenka 6–4, 5–7, 6–2. Sabalenka had won the two preceding US Open singles titles, so Rybakina stopped her attempt to become the third woman in the Open Era to win the New York title three years in a row.

The result was historically unusual. Rybakina became the first player to defeat the defending women’s singles champion in a US Open final since Serena Williams beat her sister Venus in 2002.

Rybakina also joined a small group of women to win the Australian Open and US Open in the same season. Angelique Kerber did so in 2016, and Sabalenka achieved the combination in 2024.