The end of a 99-week reign, or a piece of history in the shape of a third straight title. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina meet in the US Open final with 5.5 million dollars on the line, and the deciding singles match on Arthur Ashe Stadium will be the 18th time these two have faced one another. Sabalenka leads the head-to-head 10-7, and she arrives having reached an eighth consecutive Grand Slam final on hard courts, an outright record. Yet the numbers tell only part of the story. The Kazakh has already banked the end of the Belarusian's 99-week rule at the summit of the rankings, and from Monday she officially becomes the world's No. 1. Rybakina reached the final by beating Coco Gauff; Sabalenka came through against Jessica Pegula.
"I'm ready for whatever it's going to take to get the win," Sabalenka declared before the match. Victory would make her the third woman, after Chris Evert and Serena Williams, to win three in a row in New York. The champion in Flushing Meadows collects 5.5 million dollars, while the runner-up must settle for 2.8 million.
