Twenty-three days before Elena Rybakina lifted the US Open trophy, she wasn’t sure she would be able to play in New York at all.
Rybakina pulled out of her Cincinnati quarterfinal against Iga Swiatek after just five games because of an Achilles injury. What followed was uncertainty, medical consultations and seven days without touching a racquet.
Three weeks later, she was the US Open champion, which even she found shocking.
“I’m shocked, to be honest. I have no words,” Rybakina said. “I was coming here a little bit injured — not a little bit injured. Somehow, day by day, we were trying to find a way, adapting to all the challenges I was waking up with every day.”
The injury was particularly concerning according to Rybakina, because she has dealt with a chronic foot issue for years. After arriving in New York, an MRI didn’t alleviate all concerns.
“It didn’t look that great,” she said. “We had to talk with a lot of doctors to get opinions on what we should do.”
Working closely with her team and a doctor in Australia, Rybakina spent the next week not practicing for the final Grand Slam of 2026, but shuttling between her hotel room and the gym, focusing on treatment and recovery.
“I was not touching my racket for seven days before the tournament,” she revealed on Saturday after defeating Aryna Sabalenka, 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 in the final.
Once cleared to play, Rybakina had just four days of on-court practice before her first round.
Remarkable that she made the whole run look relatively easy, and a true testament to the quality of her tennis.
Possessing arguably the best serve in the women’s game and the ability to dictate points from the baseline, Rybakina avoided physical tussles early on. She didn’t drop a set through four rounds and gradually looked more comfortable than ever at a tournament where she had never previously advanced beyond the fourth round.
No.1 Pressure Drop
There was another source of pressure, that eventually fell by the wayside.
Rybakina arrived in New York chasing the No. 1 ranking along with three other players – Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula and Sabalenka – and when she clinched it by reaching the semifinals she said it gave her a sense of relief.
“It was a relief afterward because I achieved one goal,” she said. “Then, of course, whatever happens after, you just try to play.”
After beginning 2026 by winning the Australian Open — her first major title since Wimbledon in 2022 — the 27-year-old bookended a remarkable year with major trophies.
“I feel like this tournament was just kind of more stressful because I was playing for No. 1, and then, of course, this injury,” Rybakina said. “Every day was kind of a challenge, but I felt like in these situations I was more calm than when similar things were happening before.
“Everything went my way,” Rybakina said. “I’m shocked.”
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