Honestly, I don’t even know where to start.😣After watching this match, I genuinely felt bad. I was supporting Aryna Sabalenka, and when she lost, my immediate reaction was simply, “Okay, let’s sleep. We’ll talk about this in the morning.”Because sometimes, when your favourite player loses a big final, you don’t immediately want to analyse what went wrong you just want to switch everything off.

But i am a kind of person who always give credit to the player who really play well on particular day.

And my night was already crazy. At 12:30, there was football. Arsenal were playing, Real Madrid were playing in La Liga, and then at 1:30 a.m., the US Open final between Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina started.

So I was jumping between football and tennis, but once Sabalenka and Rybakina started playing, tennis took over.And unfortunately for me, it was not Sabalenka’s night.

Rybakina won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, and technically, I think she deserved this title.Right from the beginning, something felt wrong with Sabalenka.

Both players were making mistakes early. The second serve became extremely important, there were double faults and unforced errors, and the quality was not what you normally expect from two of the most powerful players in women’s tennis.

But even in that messy beginning, Rybakina looked more comfortable.
Her biggest advantage was that she didn’t allow Sabalenka to settle into her service rhythm.

Normally, Sabalenka wants to serve big, take the first ball early and immediately dictate from the baseline. But Rybakina kept putting pressure on her service games. She was reading the serve well, getting returns deep enough and making Sabalenka play an extra ball.

And that extra ball was crucial.Because when Sabalenka is comfortable, she can hit through almost anyone.But when you force her to play one additional shot under pressure, her aggression can turn against her.

That was one of the biggest differences in this final.On the other side, Rybakina’s service games looked much cleaner. Her first serve wasn’t just about aces it was about creating the next shot.
She was getting cheap points, protecting her service games and, more importantly, preventing Sabalenka from building scoreboard pressure.

The numbers tell an interesting story too: Rybakina won 76% of her first-serve points, while Sabalenka won 75%. Rybakina also converted 3 of 6 break points, compared with Sabalenka converting only 2 of 8.

And then came the second set.This is where I thought, “Okay, maybe Sabalenka is finally going to turn this around.”She fought back and won the set 7-5.But even then, I didn’t feel that Rybakina had completely lost control of the match.

Sabalenka had momentum, but Rybakina had the calmer structure.And that became the story of the third set.
Sabalenka started forcing things.When you are the defending champion, playing for a third consecutive US Open title, and you know the match is slipping away, the temptation is to hit harder, take bigger risks and finish points immediately.

But that’s exactly where Sabalenka became vulnerable.Her power is her biggest weapon, but on this night, sometimes she was trying to use that weapon too aggressively.Rybakina did the opposite.She stayed composed.She didn’t try to out-Sabalenka Sabalenka.

She used her own strengths serve, depth, flat groundstrokes, early ball striking and incredible calmness under pressure.And technically, that’s how she beat her.Rybakina didn’t necessarily win because she was hitting dramatically harder.She won because she was making her power more efficient.

She took time away from Sabalenka, kept the ball deep, attacked when the opportunity came and refused to panic when Sabalenka produced those explosive shots.

And once the third set started, you could feel the difference mentally.
Sabalenka was fighting the match.
Rybakina was controlling the match.
That’s a huge difference in a Grand Slam final.

Sabalenka also became visibly frustrated during the match, while Rybakina maintained her composure. Sabalenka later acknowledged the pressure of trying to complete the three-peat had affected her emotions.
And that’s probably the biggest lesson from this final.At this level, power alone isn’t enough.

You need power plus shot selection.You need aggression plus patience.You need the ability to recognise when to attack and when to simply play one more ball.

Rybakina did that better.And honestly, as someone who was desperately supporting Sabalenka, this one hurts. But credit where it’s due.Elena Rybakina was outstanding.

She won her first US Open title, her third Grand Slam, and moved to world No. 1. She also became the first player to beat Sabalenka in two Grand Slam finals in the same year.So yes, I wanted Sabalenka to win.

Yes, I was disappointed.

And yes, after watching the match, I just wanted to sleep.But when you look at the tennis objectively, Rybakina deserved this one.She didn’t just beat Sabalenka.She beat Sabalenka’s rhythm, disrupted her first-strike pattern, absorbed her aggression and, when the pressure was highest, stayed calmer.

And that is why she is the US Open champion.

Congratulations Rybakina you were really outstanding 🙌Enjoy the glory🙌😍😣👏🤞🙌😍💙

#ArynaSabalenka #Rybakina #USOpen #GrandSlam #tennis