Aryna Sabalenka will now end the 2025 season with a Grand Slam under her belt, having beaten Amanda Anisimova in the final of the US Open. The World No. 1, despite having been at the top of the rankings all year, had been unable to win a Slam at the three previous attempts, going out in all of them at the hands of Americans.
Anisimova, coming into the final after taking out Naomi Osaka in the semifinals, was understandably nervy in only her second Slam final. Sabalenka, on the other hand, had three titles to her name, and was the defending champ in New York.
Under the lights on Arthur Ashe Stadium, Sabalenka started off well, going a break up early. Although Anisimova clawed it back, it was too big of an ask for the American, and she lost the set 3-6.
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It was the same story in the second set, as Sabalenka went up 3-1, then lost the break 3-3, only to end up breaking again to go 5-3 up. At 5*-4, serving for the match, Sabalenka made what could only be described as the mistake of her tournament, missing an overhead at 30-30 and then lost the serve for 5-5. From there, it went to a tiebreaker, where Anisimova faltered to hand the Belarusian yet another hardcourt Major title.
It was a considerably better Slam final outing for Anisimova than last time, where she lost 0-6, 0-6 to Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon. Meanwhile, for Sabalenka, this is the third straight year where she is winning at least one Grand Slam title.
The Belarusian also became the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to defend her US Open title, the last 10 years having seen a list of new winners -- from Naomi Osaka and Iga Swiatek to Bianca Andreescu, Emma Raducanu and Sloane Stephens.
