Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka is looking to become the first woman to achieve the 'three-peat' in New York since Serena Williams in 2014 but she faces incoming world No 1 Elena Rybakina in the US Open final on Saturday. Rybakina's results this year, starting with her Australian Open final triumph against Sabalenka, will see her rise to the top of the rankings on Monday, ending the Belarussian's 99-week reign. But Sabalenka can exact some revenge for both that defeat and being overtaken at the WTA summit by defending her US Open title against Rybakina in Saturday's Flushing Meadows final - live on Sky Sports Tennis from 5pm.
Since 1988, Aryna Sabalenka has become the fifth player to reach 5+ Grand Slam finals as world No 1 after Steffi Graf (20), Serena Williams (14), Monica Seles and Martina Hingis (nine each) Sabalenka is into her ninth Grand Slam final She is on a 19-match winning streak in New York. Sabalenka is now 36-3 in the last five years at the US Open It's her eighth consecutive hard-court major final Seven top-10 wins this season and back-to-back at this tournament "I really understand about how tough it is to reach the world No 1," said Sabalenka. "It's a lot of work and, yeah, that was one of my goals, but right now there was not much I could do.
I didn't really perform well in the middle of the season. "Elena took it over and played really well. But I can only focus on myself and just stay in the moment and trying to do my best right now just so I keep it tight - and maybe I will take it back from her.
"But, yeah, it does feel a little bit weird. You can perform well in the tournament but still lose the number one position. That's the beauty of sport, right?
Like, everyone chasing everyone, and it's all about little things that you improve and you get better at." Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Two-time defending champion Sabalenka is looking to become the first woman to achieve a unique hat-trick in New York since Serena Williams in 2014. It is a mouth-watering final between the two top seeds, the first time that has happened at the US Open since Williams beat Victoria Azarenka in 2013. "It's an important match, and since it's a final, it's honestly, I feel like it doesn't matter who is on the other side.
You just want to win and do your best," said Rybakina, the first player from Kazakhstan to reach world No 1. "But also, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself because we are all very close in the ranking. "Even if something goes wrong in the final, I still have other opportunities, other tournaments until the end of the year.
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