U.S. Open women’s final watch guide: TV info for No. 1 Sabalenka vs. No. 2 Rybakina

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It was meant to be.

The 2026 U.S. Open women’s draw concludes with a match between the top two seeds. No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is one win away from becoming the first player since Serena Williams to claim three consecutive U.S. Open titles. No. 2 Elena Rybakina will hope to validate her new world No. 1 ranking with a win against the woman who maintained it for 99 straight weeks.

It will be their fourth meeting of the season and a rematch of the Australian Open final. Rybakina triumphed at Melbourne Park, but has lost each of the last two against Sabalenka.

How to watch the U.S. Open 2026 women’s final

  • Venue: Billie Jean King National Tennis Center — Queens, N.Y.
  • Date: Saturday, Sept. 12 at 4 p.m. ET
  • TV: ESPN
  • Streaming: Fubo (Stream Free Now)

ESPN is also available with an ESPN Unlimited subscription. The list of global broadcasters can be found on the U.S. Open website.

In Thursday’s semifinal, Sabalenka played some of her best tennis of late in a 7-5, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula. Classic Sabalenka was on display: She powered through the court and blasted a total of 29 winners, showing what fans had been missing in recent months.

Refusing to be broken on her serve against No. 3 Pegula, Sabalenka reached her fourth consecutive U.S. Open final. It’s only her second Grand Slam final appearance of the season.

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Rybakina had a much more dramatic semifinal. After dropping the first set to home-country favorite Coco Gauff, Rybakina rallied and took advantage of Gauff’s mistakes for a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 victory.

The decisive games in both the second and third set were on Gauff’s serve. And while Rybakina forced errors from Gauff in the final game of the match, Gauff produced three of her 32 unforced errors in the deciding game of the second set.

The U.S. Open crowd missed out on a potential All-American final this year between Gauff and Pegula. However, a scintillating championship match between Sabalenka and Rybakina remains. Both players showed promise in the beginning of the season, only to come into New York with concerns. Sabalenka hasn’t won a tournament since the Miami Open in March, while Rybakina retired from the Cincinnati Open in August due to injury.

In the end, Sabalenka and Rybakina will compete against each other in a major final once again. Sabalenka is favored, but if she loses, it would be the first season since 2022 that she has not won a major.

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