The 2026 US Open is heading toward a star-studded finish at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York, with two high-stakes finals set for the weekend. Two-time defending champion Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus will face Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina in the women's final on Saturday, while German top seed Alexander Zverev will meet American Ben Shelton in the men's final on Sunday.
Sabalenka, 28, is chasing a rare "three-peat" of US Open titles — a feat accomplished by only Chris Evert (1976–1978) and Serena Williams (2012–2014). She reached her fourth consecutive US Open final by dismantling third-seeded American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals, dropping only one set throughout the entire tournament. Rybakina, 27, showed her fighting qualities by coming from a set down to beat 2023 champion Coco Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4. The victory also carried a significant side effect: by reaching the final, Rybakina has already secured the world No. 1 ranking, ending Sabalenka's 99-week reign at the top. The two have built one of the sport's most compelling rivalries, with Sabalenka leading their head-to-head 10-7 across 17 meetings. Rybakina won the most recent Grand Slam encounter between them, taking the 2026 Australian Open title in Melbourne. "We push each other when we play these matches," Rybakina said, adding that she was approaching the final without placing undue pressure on herself. Sabalenka, for her part, said her mindset was simple: "I'm ready for whatever it's going to take to get the win."
In the men's draw, Zverev had a composed but testing semifinal victory over Russia's Karen Khachanov, winning 6-3, 7-6, 7-6 in a match that required him to save match points in both tiebreaks. The 28-year-old German, who ended years of near-misses by winning the French Open earlier this year and then reached the Wimbledon final, is now 24-2 in Grand Slam matches this season. He faces Shelton, a 23-year-old from the US state of Georgia, who beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-5 in a heavily anticipated all-American semifinal that drew a star-studded crowd. Shelton, seeded eighth, had already caused a major upset by eliminating defending men's champion Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals in a match that ended at 3:33 a.m. — the latest finish in US Open history.
The men's final carries considerable historical weight. No American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick at this very tournament in 2003, and Shelton would also become the first Black American man to win the US Open since Arthur Ashe claimed the inaugural title in 1968. Shelton acknowledged the scale of the occasion but said he had deliberately kept himself grounded. "I'm here in New York, I'm hanging out with my team, playing a little bit of tennis," he said. "I've been able to downplay the moment well." Zverev, meanwhile, is motivated by the memory of his painful 2020 US Open final loss, when he surrendered a two-set lead to Dominic Thiem. "Maybe this year God has said this is going to be your year," the German reflected.
The women's final is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m. local time (20:00 GMT), with the men's final to follow on Sunday. The women's singles winner will take home $5.5 million from the tournament's record $108 million prize pool. Both finals promise elite tennis at the close of a dramatic fortnight at Flushing Meadows, the complex in Queens, New York, that has hosted the US Open since 1978.