NEW YORK : Aryna Sabalenka’s bid for a third straight U.S. Open title ended in a 6-4 5-7 6-2 defeat by Elena Rybakina on Saturday, with the Belarusian saying the pressure of chasing a hat-trick in New York made it especially difficult to control her emotions.
While Rybakina maintained her trademark composure throughout the tense final, Sabalenka twice let her frustration boil over, firing a ball into the crowd and later smashing her racket as the match slipped away.
“It’s really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat,” Sabalenka told reporters.
“I just wanted to let it go, because if I would hold it inside, I wouldn’t be able to say a word. I would just go not really nice over there.”
Rybakina absorbed Sabalenka’s heavy hitting before stepping forward to dictate play, eventually pulling away in the deciding set to claim her third Grand Slam title and first at Flushing Meadows.
“She played really aggressive, great tennis. She was simply a better player today than me,” Sabalenka said of her opponent.
Rybakina had already dethroned Sabalenka as world number one before the final, ending the Belarusian’s 99-week reign at the top of the rankings.
“Let’s see if Elena can beat me in that,” Sabalenka said with a laugh. “She continue to play like that, then yeah, I’m in trouble.”
Sabalenka also missed the chance to reward a crowd that had rallied behind her. After facing an American opponent in each of her previous three U.S. Open finals, she finally found Arthur Ashe Stadium firmly on her side.
“I felt like, ‘Oh, my God, I feel American over there’,” she said. “I just wish I could win it and feel the support even more. Yeah, not this year.”
The defeat ended Sabalenka’s 20-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows and denied her the chance to join Serena Williams and Chris Evert as the only women in the professional era to win three consecutive U.S. Open titles.
