Aryna Sabalenka is one victory away from becoming only the third woman to win three US Open titles in a row and one of her coaches has delivered a warning to Elena Rybakina ahead of the final.
Four-time Grand Slam winner Sabalenka is 25-1 at the season-ending Grand Slam as she has reached four finals in a row, losing against Coco Gauff in 2023 before beating Jessica Pegula in 2024 and Amanda Anisimova in 2025.
It is clear the Belarusian likes the big stage at Flushing Meadows and her performance coach Jason Stacy admits other players are “just guests” as they consider it the Belarusian’s home turf.
“The way I like to put it – no disrespect to anybody – is that this is her house, and all the other girls are just guests, and it’s time for them to go home,” he said in the pre-final press conference.
“Her showing up and understanding that it’s her job to dictate the pace, to understand what her strategy is and to not go to the level of the person across the net, not to meet them where they’re at, but ‘I’m here to just do my job, and that’s it.’
“That’s how she plays when she plays well. She’s in that moment where she’s getting that connection with herself and that alignment. When she can get out there and play that way, then everyone’s in trouble.”
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Rybakina – who will replace Sabalenka at No 1 in the WTA Rankings after the tournament – stands in the 28-year-old’s way of joining Chris Evert and Serena Williams in the exclusive club of women to win three in a row at the US Open.
Sabalenka has certainly not had things easy in the past few months as she lost in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open, leading many to write her off ahead of the season-ending Grand Slam.
But she has returned to form on the hard courts at Flushing Meadows, dropping only one set en route to the final, and her semi-final win over Jessica Pegula was particularly impressive as she 7-5, 6-2.
Former world No 18 Max Mirnyi, who joined Stacy and Anton Dubrov on Sabalenka’s coaching team in 2025, said: “For Aryna, we can see that she has been improving as the tournament goes on. We’re excited. She certainly fits well with New York. I think she fits perfectly for this environment.
“She likes this circumstance of being the glamour girl and having the spotlight on her, dealing with the pressures of the night sessions, and she thrives in this pressure. That’s why she has been successful.”
