As the final weeks of summer drew to a close, the excitement level rose in Flushing Meadows Corona Park in Queens, New York, with the tennis world gearing up for the final Grand Slam of the year: the U.S. Open. As the last weeks of August became the early weeks of September, the tournament progressed from the early rounds with its share of upsets. From Novak Djokovic’s first round loss to Mariano Navone to the final rounds, which brought about some of the most tightly contested games, a historic run and a nearly missed three-peat, the U.S. Open delivered its worth of thrillers that will live in the memories of many for a long time.
In the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), Elena Rybakina was one of the stories of the tournament. The Kazakhstani player defeated Aryna Sabalenka in the final, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, to win her first U.S. Open. In the process, she ended Sabalenka’s three-peat effort to be crowned U.S. Open champion, but this was known territory for Rybakina. She had already defeated Sabalenka in the 2026 Australian Open final earlier this year, meaning she won two of the year’s four Slams. The icing on the cake was that after she won the U.S. Open, she also confirmed her rise to No. 1 ranking, ending Sabalenka’s 99-week reign.
While it may not have been a fairy tale finish for the Sabalenka, it was obvious that the Belarusian tennis star was chasing her own records during this tournament. She was attempting to become the first woman since Serena Williams to win three consecutive U.S. Open titles, and had a run of 19 consecutive U.S. Open match wins which was ended by Rybakina in the final. It was no surprise that Sabalenka was given a hard time defending her title, as all the top seeds of the tournament advanced to the later stages. In fact, the top four women’s seeds, Sabalenka, Rybakina, Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, all reached the semifinals for the first time at the U.S. Open since 1975.
On the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) side of the story, Alexander Zverev secured his second Grand Slam of the calendar year with a tightly fought win over the American Ben Shelton, 6-3, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. Given the year of immaculate form Zverev has been in, it makes perfect sense that he was going to be one of the contenders to win it all. This was Zverev’s third consecutive Grand Slam final, but he only made the US Open final after six long years, in which he lost the 2020 U.S. Open final after leading Dominic Thiem by two sets. Looking back, from that time Zverev has surely come a long way from just a perennial contender to winning two majors in the same season.
However, one could argue that he was not necessarily the story of the tournament. In what could be considered the breakout player of the contest, Ben Shelton made it to his first ever Grand Slam final after defeating tournament favourite Carlos Alcaraz in a grueling quarterfinal game that lasted four hours and 28 minutes and lasted till an absurd 3:33 a.m. In the game against Alcaraz, Shelton did not simply let Alcaraz, one of the biggest names in the tennis world today, dictate the game. Instead, he showcased an aggressive, high-risk, high-reward style of play and demonstrated that his game could actually withstand the intense pressure of a Grand Slam quarterfinal against an established superstar. In a game where the advantage kept flipping, Shelton proved that he was more than just his serve, forehand and explosive athleticism which he is often credited with. This is so important as in the later stages of the tournament, with skill sets being very similar among players, the game pivots to a mental one as much as a physical one. The decisive win over Alcaraz, 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (10-7), gave him the confidence and momentum to defeat Frances Tiafoe in an all-American final, but eventually he fell short. However, the hometown fans must have been glad to have another promising start make it through the ranks on home soil and give them hope of bringing the title home in the years to come.
Looking back at the two weeks of action-packed tennis, the defining feature of the 2026 U.S. Open was transition. On the women’s side, Rybakina displaced Sabalenka at the top of the rankings after two Grand Slam victories over her rival during the season. On the men’s side, Zverev finally converted years of deep Slam runs into multiple titles, while hometown hero Shelton emerged as a major figure in the next generation of American tennis after defeating Alcaraz, one of the favourites of the tournament. And while the conclusion of the U.S. Open signals a wrap of the Grand Slams for the year, we still have the ATP and WTP finals at the end of this year to look forward to and only time will tell what we have in store for that.