US Open LIVE: Sabalenka and Rybakina set for heavyweight women's final

[p][b]19:53 CET -[/b] Standing in the way of a Sabalenka three-peat is [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a][/b], with the Kazakh set to become the new women's world number one when the rankings are updated on Monday.[/p][p]The Australian Open champion has looked far from her best at times throughout the tournament, but has managed to dig deep in several key moments to overcome former US Open champions [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gauff-coco/f5BXmEH6/"]Coco Gauff[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/osaka-naomi/MDM4BKiA/"]Naomi Osaka[/a], as well as Olympic gold medallist [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/zheng-qinwen/xCyEhjAS/"]Qinwen Zheng[/a].[/p][p]Victory for Rybakina this evening would see her become only the third woman in the last two decades to win both hard-court majors in the same year.[/p][image alt="Rybakina's recent results" id="ac648121-e3cf-4fe4-8c93-8d63d774b44c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ddf3c7e6-b228-447c-92bd-5932cea5c94f" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]19:04 CET -[/b] Despite a challenging few months, top seed [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a][/b] has rediscovered her best form in New York this fortnight, with the Belarusian cruising through the draw, dropping just a single set across her six matches.[/p][p]The 28-year-old was forced to work hard in the last eight against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noskova-linda/zHMiAkw6/"]Linda Noskova[/a], coming through a final-set tiebreak, but she was imperious in the semi-finals against home favourite [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Jessica Pegula[/a], producing a statement win in just 80 minutes.[/p][p]Sabalenka needs one more victory to secure a historic three-peat at the US Open, as she looks to become the first woman to win three successive titles at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2014.[/p][image alt="Sabalenka's recent results" id="937c1b65-e741-47ee-ba3e-8e6eb703382a" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="da92dbd6-cac9-4c73-93ee-e9d25c5b907a" original-width="2160" original-height="2700" /][p][b]18:30 CET -[/b] Good evening and welcome to our live coverage of the 2026 US Open women's final between [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Aryna Sabalenka[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a]![/p][p]It's a heavyweight tussle between the two top seeds in New York, as two-time defending champion Sabalenka looks to secure a historic three-peat at Flushing Meadows, while incoming world number one Rybakina targets a third Grand Slam title and her second of 2026.[/p][image alt="Win probability" id="7cf83dbf-351e-4681-9bdd-3509f8478923" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ca27102f-331b-477c-9111-46027974e469" original-width="3840" original-height="2160" /][p]The final, which is due to get underway at [b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/rybakina-e-UDzElXdm/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=rDbVIO5l"]22:00 CET[/a][/b], is an 18th career meeting between the two players, with Sabalenka leading the head-to-head 10-7, although Rybakina did come out on top in their last clash at a major, winning the Australian Open final earlier this year.[/p][p][b]We'll be building up to the match over the next few hours, but why not read our [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/news/tennis-us-open-wta-singles-sabalenka-faces-rival-rybakina-in-blockbuster-us-open-final-with-three-peat-in-sight/joRlM8oB/"]in-depth preview of the final here[/a].[/b][/p][infobox id="3dc51b3a-107f-482b-9173-a97d347ef1b3" /]