Elena Rybakina arrived in New York unable to walk without pain after injuring her foot.

Elena Rybakina completed one of the most remarkable physical recoveries in tennis history by capturing the US Open singles title at Flushing Meadows, overcoming an excruciating foot injury that left her completely unable to walk without severe pain just days before the tournament began. The big-serving Kazakh star showed incredible grit throughout the grueling fortnight on the New York hard courts, displaying the powerful baseline game that previously propelled her to the 2022 Wimbledon crown. Her triumph in the championship match capped an astonishing two-week run where she defeated three top-ten opponents, proving her status as one of the most formidable competitors on the global tennis circuit.

This dramatic Flushing Meadows victory not only secures Rybakina her second career Grand Slam singles title but also elevates her to the summit of the WTA rankings as the new world number one for the very first time in her professional career. Entering the final stretch of the season, the twenty-five-year-old boasts an impressive hard-court match record of over eighty percent in 2024, highlighting her dominance across various surfaces despite battling intermittent health setbacks throughout the year. Her journey to the top spot has been defined by consistency and clutch baseline play, having already claimed multiple WTA 1000 titles earlier in the calendar year prior to her heroic efforts in New York.

Looking ahead, Rybakina will now turn her intense focus toward the prestigious WTA Finals and maintaining her newly established position atop women's professional tennis through the closing months of the season. As the reigning world number one, she automatically qualifies for the elite year-end championship in Riyadh, where she will headline a star-studded field featuring the world's eight best singles players. Tennis analysts anticipate that this milestone US Open triumph will serve as a massive confidence booster as she aims to defend her elite ranking status and secure even more major hardware during the upcoming tennis season.