Elena Rybakina Makes Feelings Known on Career Grand Slam Goals After US Open Glory: “The Job is Never Done”

Elena Rybakina lifted her career’s third Grand Slam title by upsetting two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka in the final of the US Open. She has now won titles at Wimbledon, the Australian Open, and the US Open.

Rybakina needs just the French Open to complete the historic Career Grand Slam. At Roland Garros, Rybakina is a two-time quarterfinalist, reaching the stage in 2021 and 2024. At the press conference after her latest win, when the World No.1 one was asked about the Career Grand Slam, she said:

The main priority, as I was saying before – I’m not getting younger – is try to keep myself healthy. Definitely choose the calendar correctly… The training process. Of course the goal is always the biggest tournaments, you want to win them. The Grand Slams… Just try to find the balance, try to be stable, and we will see what’s gonna happen. Definitely, it’s still a lot of work to do. The job is never done, to be honest.

It was her third title of the season after the Australian Open and the Stuttgart Open, which is she won by beating Sabalenka and Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Muchova, respectively. The 27-year-old had already dethroned Sabalenka from the No.1 ranking when she defeated Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals.

It was Rybakina’s eighth victory over Sabalenka in their 18th head-to-head meeting. Before this season, the Kazakh ace had never progressed beyond the fourth round of the US Open. Sabalenka, on the other hand, lost to Coco Gauff in the final 2023 then defeated Jessica Pegula in 2024 and Amanda Anisimova last year. Had the 28-year-old clinched the win on Saturday, she would have become the third woman in the Open Era to complete the hat-trick of the US Open after Chris Evert and Serena Williams.

Martina Navratilova makes bullying comment about the Aryna Sabalenka-Elena Rybakina US Open final

Elena Rybakina performed simply too well if compared to Aryna Sabalenka, said tennis great Martina Navratilova after their match. After losing the first set easily, Sabalenka somehow saved herself from the brink of upset but her level dropped in the third set as all she could win were two games.

She just played so well. It was an incredible performance and Sabalenka just couldn’t do anything to stop her. Aryna was on the back foot all through the match, and it was a great performance.

Martina Navratilova said on Sky Sports

The Belarusian was chasing her fourth title of the season after wins in Brisbane, Indian Wells, and Miami. She is now 2-2 in the head-to-head matchups against Rybakina this season. Apart from the two Grand Slam clashes, they met at the two Sunshine Double events, with Sabalenka winning both times.

We do not see that. Usually it’s Sabalenka doing the bullying. I think that’s why Sabalenka didn’t know what to do. She’s used to dictating, to putting people on the defense, on their heels and rushing shots. Instead, it was all Rybakina doing that to her. And I did not expect that. It’s not that Sabalenka lost the match… Rybakina won it. She earned that win.

Martina Navratilova added

A day after Rybakina’s win, Alexander Zverev upset home favorite Ben Shelton in the men’s final, becoming a two-time Grand Slam champion. Both Zverev and Rybakina will end the season with two Grand Slam titles each. Sascha ended his Major title drought by defeating Flavio Cobolli in the French Open final. Rybakina, with these two wins, became the first woman since Sabalenka in 2024 to take home multiple Grand Slam titles in a single season.

Also read: Alexander Zverev Responds to Hilarious Score Confusion on Match Point After Winning the US Open