'Tough to control emotions' as Sabalenka suffers another near miss

Aryna Sabalenka cut a forlorn figure as she sat staring into space following a painful defeat by Elena Rybakina in the US Open final.

As Rybakina celebrated her third Grand Slam title following a 6-4 5-7 6-2 win in New York, cameras pictured Sabalenka deep in thought as she sat in silence with her team.

At a tournament which has delivered so much success for two-time champion Sabalenka, the disappointment the 28-year-old has faced in the past week leaves her with plenty to ponder.

Not only has Rybakina replaced Sabalenka as the world number one after 99 weeks at the summit, she has now ended the Belarusian's 20-match winning streak at Flushing Meadows.

Defeat also means Sabalenka will end the year without winning a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2022.

For four-time Grand Slam singles champion Sabalenka, the disappointment was palpable.

Throughout the final, faced with a composed Rybakina who put together an outstanding performance, Sabalenka could not keep her frustrations at bay.

Her racquet felt the brunt of her exasperation as she slammed it to the ground after offering a break point to Rybakina in the second set.

After Rybakina sent an ace past her to secure victory, Sabalenka flung her racquet away in disgust before congratulating her opponent. As Rybakina waved to the crowd, Sabalenka sat on her chair and smashed another racquet against the floor.

Sabalenka also used an expletive as she told a cameraperson to go away as she sat with her team immediately after defeat.

"It's really tough to control your emotions when you lose in the final of the Grand Slam and when you were trying to go for three-peat," Sabalenka said afterwards.

"So I just wanted to let it go, because if I would hold it inside, right now or here or there on the court, I wouldn't be able to say a word or I would just go not really nice over there.

"So I just wanted to let all of that aggression and disappointment go outside."

Sabalenka is always vocal on court and has been known to berate herself and roll her eyes ironically when missing points, even in her most dominant of victories.

Often she can channel her emotions into her aggressive hitting, but former British number one Annabel Croft believes it contributed to her downfall against Rybakina.

"It was extraordinary to witness because she had been very negative on herself with her body language in that first set and suddenly the emotions got the better of her," Croft said on BBC Radio 5 Live.

"I felt like that really contributed to her going down in that first set. She was beating herself."

Sabalenka held back tears during a post-match interview in which she praised Rybakina's performance.

Croft says the Belarusian would benefit from applying the same level of poise during her matches.

"I think what happened was the minute she started to not respect the level of tennis her opponent was playing, she couldn't handle it at all," said Croft.

"You have to respect what they're putting out there and applaud it but then find ways to dig in and find another way to compete with them.

"It was almost like throwing the toys out of the pram today."

The weight of expectation Sabalenka puts on herself has affected her in major finals in particular.

She has won four of her nine Grand Slam singles finals, and only won one of her four finals as the world number one.

All five of her major final losses were in three sets, and on two of those occasions Sabalenka won the opening set.

After defending her US Open crown in 2025, she began this year targeting more Grand Slam success.

However, she lost a tight three-set Australian Open final to Rybakina before she imploded at the French Open. Leading Russia's Diana Shnaider by a set and 4-1 in the quarter-finals, Sabalenka totally lost her way, being dragged into a decider that she lost 6-0.

At Wimbledon, Sabalenka lost in the fourth round to Japanese four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in what was her earliest Grand Slam exit for four years.

Sabalenka has won three WTA titles this year, triumphing in Brisbane, Indian Wells and the Miami Open, but she has been second best to Rybakina in the hard-court majors.

The US Open was meant to salvage Sabalenka's season - but she must now regroup as she adjusts to her position as world number two.

"I think overall I should be happy with the level I played, and there's lots of things to take from this tournament," Sabalenka said.

"Experience shows that I only come back stronger and all of these lessons this season definitely already made me stronger, but definitely going to motivate me for the next year to do a better job."