Aryna Sabalenka defeats Amanda Anisimova to win U.S. Open women's title

Aryna Sabalenka entered the U.S. Open final Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium as the defending champion and the No. 1 player in the world. But she had yet to win a Grand Slam event in 2025, and this was her last shot.

Having lost two Slam finals this year — the Australian Open to Madison Keys and the French Open to Coco Gauff — Sabalenka closed the Grand Slam season by finally winning a major championship, beating American Amanda Anisimova, the Wimbledon runner-up, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

Sabalenka became the first woman to successfully defend her title here since Serena Williams won three straight Opens from 2012 through 2014.

When Anisimova’s return of Sabalenka’s serve went long for the final point, Sabalenka fell to her knees, crying. Anisimova walked around the net to greet Sabalenka on her side of the court and hug her. “Thank you,’’ a smiling Sabalenka said.

It was the fourth Grand Slam title for the 27-year-old from Belarus, who won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024. She dropped only one set in this tournament, to Jessica Pegula in the semifinals.

“I feel crazy,’’ she told ESPN in her post-match interview. “I want to laugh, I want to scream and I want to cry at the same time. I definitely feel like the happiest person on the Earth right now.’’

She still was pretty happy when she showed up for her post-match interview session, walking into the room carrying a bottle of champagne along with a bottle of water and wearing protective goggles on top of her head. She said she hadn’t swallowed much of the champagne at that point — she had just been spraying it around, mostly — but she did take a swig during the interview session.

Someone asked why, as someone who had won three Grand Slam tournaments before this one, she fell to her knees when it was over.

“I think because of the finals earlier this season, this one felt different,’’ she said. “This one felt like I had to overcome a lot of things to get this one. The hard work I put in, I deserved to have a Grand Slam title this season.

“I’m super-proud right now of myself.’’

Sabalenka talked a few times about the lessons she learned from the losses in Australia and France and about overcoming mental challenges over the years. She was determined, she said, not to have her emotions get the better of her.

She said there were two times in the second set when she felt she was close to losing control, but she rallied.

One was when she missed on an overhand smash, sending it into the net to hand Anisimova a break point when it was 5-4 and she was trying to close it out.

The crowd, at that point, started to rally behind Anisimova, a native of Freehold Township, New Jersey, and for the first time in the match, there was pressure on Sabalenka.

“I turned around, I took a deep breath in, and said, ‘It happens. It’s in the past. Let’s focus on the next one,’ ’’ Sabalenka said.

“And then she broke me.’’

Then Anisimova held serve to go up 6-5. But Sabalenka held to force the tiebreaker and went ahead 6-1 to take control. Anisimova won a couple points on her serve before Sabalenka finally ended it. It was the 19th consecutive tiebreaker she has won.

“That’s insane,’’ Sabalenka told ESPN. “At some point you’re going to lose one, you know? And I was thinking, is this the time?’’

Despite the loss, Anisimova — who had beaten Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinals — will move up in the world rankings to No. 4.

“It’s been a great summer,’’ she said before being presented the finalist trophy. “Losing in two finals in a row is great, but it’s also super-hard.’’

For Anisimova, who turned 24 last Sunday, her performance was worlds better than it had been in the Wimbledon final, when she was embarrassed by Iga Swiatek, 6-0, 6-0.

After entering the tournament ranked No. 8 in the world and beating Naomi Osaka in three sets to reach her second consecutive Grand Slam final, despite what appeared to be some early nerves, she looked much more comfortable — and competitive — in this one.

By Colin Stephenson

colin.stephenson@newsday.comColinSNewsday

Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.