Tennis - US Open 2025: Reigning champion Aryna Sabalenka rules supreme against Amanda Anisimova

Aryna Sabalenka, Queen of New York City, has retained her crown at the 2025 US Open.

The world No.1 defended the women’s singles title for her first Grand Slam title of the season, defeating Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) on Saturday (6 September).

After defeats in the Australian Open and French Open finals, Sabalenka continues her dominance on the hard tennis courts with a fourth major title on the surface. For Anisimova, it is consecutive Grand Slam final losses though a new career high of world No.4 after the tournament.

“This morning I received a video from the tennis school where I started from the kids [there],” Sabalenka said in her winner’s speech on court. “They were cheering me on. I was crying a little bit this morning. That was the moment where I realised I can’t let them down. I have to give them some positive vibes.”

No woman since Serena Williams in 2014 had successfully defended her US Open title. Now the world No.1 is a back-to-back champion in the Big Apple, marking her 100th Grand Slam match victory in sumptuous style.

US Open 2025 women's singles final: Aryna Sabalenka defeats Amanda Anisimova to retain title - as it happened

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2025 US Open final – World no. 1 Sabalenka roars to victory against gutsy Anisimova

The stars were out for an enthralling women’s singles final in store, the defending champion against the local hero from New Jersey. Anisimova came out to play with full aggression from the first minute, hitting five winners in the space of two games.

Although it was Sabalenka who broke first, the American responded with a gutsy double break to take the lead from 2-0 down to 3-2.

As both women settled into the occasion, Sabalenka found her rhythm and with it, her own aggressive trademark shot-making. She sealed a double break and converted her first set point to take the opener in the championship match.

With an early break in the second, Anisimova found the wind in her sails and broke Sabalenka to love to level it up at three games apiece. But for all her ferocious winners came as many unforced errors, twice as many as the world No.1, who broke right back.

The momentum in her serve allowed Sabalenka to go 5-3 up, but as she served for the title at 5-4, a resilient Anisimova did not give up and broke back among three straight games won.

For all her might, the 24-year-old could not stop the top seed from forcing a tiebreak, where she held a streak of 18 wins in a row. That was backed up as Sabalenka won six of the first seven points, capitalising when serving for her third championship point with a devastating blast to wrap up the women’s singles trophy.

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