After she was beaten by Aryna Sabalenka across two brutal sets in the US Open semi-final, Jessica Pegula could only smile. There was nothing she could have done.‘I don’t know who pissed her off today,’ Pegula said, looking for answers as to how the Belarusian could have hit such heights of form. ‘Hopefully it wasn’t me.’Sabalenka has good reason to be angry. Her critics have written off her form for months, she has lost her status as world No1, and she is set to end the season without a Grand Slam title. But the Belarusian has silenced this noise, played her game, and in today’s women’s final, she has one last chance to defend her trophy in New York. Fittingly, the source of any fury she might have, Elena Rybakina, will be on the other side of the net.The Kazakh sits at world No1 now, only needing to reach the semi-finals to secure the honour. She was boosted to the top spot by winning the Australian Open, beating Sabalenka in her only Grand Slam final appearance this year. If Sabalenka needs motivation beyond a fifth major this afternoon, revenge is a good place to start.No rivals have played more than one Grand Slam final in a year in the women’s game since Serena Williams and Angelique Kerber ten years ago. Sabalenka and Rybakina have played almost double their total, and with the stakes sky-high in New York, their showdown inside Arthur Ashe Stadium should come to define what the sport will remember as a generational rivalry.Sabalenka and Rybakina certainly know how to play each other. They have met 17 times, and after Sabalenka’s fast start, they have shared the wins in tight, often three-set contests that bring out the very best in their respective games. Aryna Sabalenka and Elena Rybakina are the standout women’s rivalry of their generation The two players have seen out a trilogy of finals this season, with the crescendo coming at the US OpenRybakina is a tricky opponent for Sabalenka, even when it seems like no one is capable of bettering her aggressive hitting. But the 27-year-old’s ability to deal with her power and send back big, flat balls that leave Sabalenka shovelling into the net – plus her thunderous serve – have unlocked her opponent when she’s been otherwise unbeatable.The result is frustrating for the four-time Grand Slam champion. She wails, throws up her arms, glares at her box. During a feisty meeting in the final at last year’s WTA Finals, Sabalenka was overheard huffing to her team that ‘once a year even the stick shoots’, a Russian proverb whose meaning translates.When asked about the moment after the match, Rybakina was impassive, brushing off the slight and wishing Sabalenka and her team the best. A gracious winner with a $5.23million cheque, but that is how Rybakina deals with almost everything. She is Sabalenka’s antithesis, able to keep her emotions in check and a cool head at her best – or fading blankly at her worst.The stick shot again in Melbourne, but in their second final of this year’s trilogy, at Indian Wells, Sabalenka left with the trophy, hanging on to deny Rybakina championship point in the tiebreak before claiming her own.Sabalenka beat Rybakina again in Miami, amid the sharpest peak of her form in 2026, the ‘Sunshine Double’ played between California and Florida. Only against Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova and Pegula at Flushing Meadows has she hit those heights, while Rybakina has proved ultra-consistent over a steamy summer.Rybakina was a set down in her quarter-final, and her semi-final against Coco Gauff. She received two tough talks from her coach Stefano Vukov, back in her box after a months-long provisional suspension from WTA as the tour investigated claims over his conduct dealing with his player. He was cleared in mid-2025, and his return either paved the way to her run to world No1, or remains controversial, depending on your camp. There is no doubt that these changeover resets have proved Rybakina cannot be counted out in the Big Apple.For both players, the result today is what matters. Rybakina is pleased with her new status, but she has stressed there is still a Grand Slam going on, one she wants to win. Sabalenka was ‘super desperate’ to beat Pegula, and even more so to become the third woman to ‘three-peat’ the title, after Billie Jean King and Serena.And Sabalenka was quick to refute Pegula’s claims. Of course she wasn’t angry at her. But then, she considered the statement again, and shrugged.‘Better not make me mad.’