NEW YORK — For the second time this 12 months, Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina will meet in a Grand Slam final.
In Saturday’s 2026 US Open final, the two-time defending champion Sabalenka seeks to change into the first three-peat at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-14 whereas Rybakina eyes her second main title in 2026 after defeating Sabalenka at the Australian Open.
The 2 will face for the 18th time on WTA Tour Pushed by Mercedes-Benz, with Sabalenka main 10-7. They will even meet for the third time in main finals, splitting the earlier two.
From notable stats to prize cash and extra, here is all the things you want to know about Saturday’s US Open final.
When is the US Open singles final?
The singles final might be held on Arthur Ashe Stadium at 4 p.m on Saturday, September 12.
The doubles final, that includes high seeded Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend vs. Ashlyn Krueger and Robin Montgomery, is slated for Friday, September 11 at 12 p.m.
Time conversions for singles final: 9 p.m. BST, 10 p.m. CEST
How did every singles participant attain the championship?
Sabalenka
First spherical: def. Camila Osorio 6-2, 6-4
Second spherical: def. [Q] Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1
Third spherical: def. Kamilla Rakhimova 6-3, 6-4
Fourth spherical: def. Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-3
Quarterfinal: def. [6] Linda Noskova 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6[7]
Semifinal: def. [3] Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2
The highest seed is thru to her fourth consecutive US Open final after securing her tenth victory over Pegula, and a win on Saturday would mark Sabalenka’s fifth profession main title and her twentieth consecutive win at the US Open.
Rybakina
First spherical: def. [WC] Thea Frodin 6-3, 6-2
Second spherical: def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro 6-2, 6-4
Third spherical: def. Yuliia Starodubtseva 7-6(6), 6-3
Fourth spherical: def. [13] Naomi Osaka 6-1, 6-4
Quarterfinal: def. [Q] Zheng Qinwen 3-6, 6-1, 6-4
Semifinal: def. [4] Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
Rybakina is into her first US Open final and fourth main final general. To qualify for the championship, she claimed her second profession comeback win at a Grand Slam vs. a WTA high 10 opponent by defeating Gauff. She defeated Ons Jabeur in the 2022 Wimbledon final.
What are the rating factors and prize cash at stake?
At the US Open, Saturday’s singles champion will earn $5.5 million with the finalist taking residence $2.8 million, a part of the collective $108 million the match supplied at this 12 months’s version. In doubles, the profitable pair shares $1 million whereas the second-place workforce splits $500,000.
As with all Grand Slams, 2000 rating factors are on the desk in each the PIF WTA Rankings and the Race to the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, whereas the runner-up provides 1300 factors. Any change in rank relies on how the participant performs in the match in contrast to the factors earned in the identical week final 12 months.
No matter tomorrow’s outcome, Rybakina is about to take over the World No. 1 spot in the PIF WTA Rankings on Monday, and Sabalenka will drop down to No. 2. In the Race to the WTA Finals at Indian Wells, Saturday’s winner will transfer into the high spot and the runner-up might be second.
By the numbers
Sabalenka
5: Since 1988, Sabalenka is now the fifth participant to attain no less than Grand Slam finals as World No. 1 after Steffi Graf (20), Serena Williams (14), Monica Seles and Martina Hingis (9 every) — Sabalenka remains to be formally No. 1 till Monday’s up to date rankings.
8: Sabalenka has change into the first feminine or male participant in the Open Period to attain eight consecutive Grand Slam finals on exhausting courtroom. She surpasses the seven reached by Steffi Graf (1987-90), Martina Hingis (1997-00) and Novak Djokovic (2010-13).
141: At Grand Slams, Sabalenka ‘s +141 winner to unforced error differential is the better of any participant. Pegula, +21, is next-best.
Rybakina
1: Rybakina can change into the first participant to defeat previous ladies’s singles champions in each the semifinal and final at the US Open since Justine Henin in 2007.
5: The Kazakh is the fifth participant in the previous twenty years to attain each the Australian and US Open finals in a singles season. She joins Henin (2006), Victoria Azarenka (2012-13), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Sabalenka (2023-26).
75: Since the finish of final 12 months’s US Open, Rybakina holds the greatest win price, 75%, towards WTA high 10 opponents. She has claimed the most WTA high 10 wins over the final 12 months with an 18-6 document.
What that they had to say?
Sabalenka:
1. “If it is Elena, it is going to be a extremely — it is going to be actually powerful match. She’s an enormous server. She actually improved over the years on the baseline recreation, so it is going to be bodily and mentally powerful match.
“As I mentioned, I am prepared for the combat. I am prepared to do all the things to get the win.”
2. “I preserve the identical routine. As I mentioned, final couple of months actually train me how to shut down the noise from outdoors. I feel that is what’s the that means behind all of these powerful classes to lastly learn the way to keep centered on myself and neglect about the outdoors noise.
“It sounds easy, but it surely’s probably not easy to do typically. Nothing’s going to change for me.”
Rybakina:
1. “We performed many occasions. She’s a really aggressive participant. It is troublesome to play along with her, mentally, bodily, as a result of she has huge recreation, huge serve.
“I’ll want to include all the vitality I’ll have, deliver my greatest serve towards Aryna and, yeah, make the proper selections in the proper second, as a result of most of the occasions it is tight, tight rating. That is the place the resolution makes a distinction.”
2. “It is essential match, and since it is a final, I really feel prefer it does not matter who’s on the different aspect. You simply need to win and do your greatest.
“I do not need to put an excessive amount of stress on myself, as a result of we’re all very shut in the rating. Even when one thing goes improper in the final, I nonetheless have one other alternatives, one other tournaments till the finish of the 12 months.”
