Aryna Sabalenka Ascends to Another Level in Dominant U.S. Open Victory

It poured outside Arthur Ashe Stadium this afternoon. Under a roof, there was still plenty of thunder and lightning as Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus defended her U.S. Open title by simply overpowering her opponent, American Amanda Anisimova 6–3, 7–6. The 25,000 fans—including more celebs than you can shake a selfie stick at—were not treated to a classic match. They were, however, treated to a demonstration of just how much pace two women can impose a tennis ball. It’s just that one of them had more.

For all the force she applied in her ballstriking— 22 winners against 13 for Anisimova—Sabalenka also brought significant force of will. Befitting her ranking, Sabalenka has played deep into each major this year. But in Australia, she lost agonizingly in the final (to Madison Keys). At Roland Garros, she lost agonizingly in the final (to Coco Gauff). At Wimbledon she lost agonizingly in the semis (ironically to Anisimova.) With one last chance to win a big prize in 2025, Sabalenka came prepared, playing well when necessary, unleashing her uninhibited power while harnessing her worst instincts, and failing to let a partial crowd worm into her head.

Even during prematch warmup, it was clear that Anisimova—born in New Jersey—would be the heavy crowd favorite. But Sabalenka neutralized the New York crowd early, winning the first two games. Anisimova then reeled off three games to take the lead. But Sabalenka reset and ran off four games to take the first, 6–3. In the second set, she got an early, demoralizing break of serve, applied spackle whenever there was a slight crack. She prevailed in the tiebreak, the 22nd she’s played this year and 21st she’s won.

All credit to Anisimova. Two months ago, she made her first major final and lost 6–0, 6–0 to Iga Światek, the kind of big-stage humiliation that can crush lesser players. Anisimova? She recovered to beat Światek—“the biggest win of my career,” she said—and then Naomi Osaka. Today, she gave a fine accounting of herself. Not nervy, simply outhit.

But the day —tournament? Year?—belonged to Sabalenka. This marked her 100th career singles victory at a major. As a winner, she takes home $5 million, the highest total ever paid for a tournament winner. More importantly, it’s her fourth career major singles title, moving from Hall of Fame eligible to potentially all-time-great territory. And next, she heads to Australia, where she has taken the title twice and won 20 of her last 21 matches. It’s Sabalenka time. And until an opponent can neutralize the biggest hitter in women’s tennis, it figures to remain her time for the foreseeable future.