India, Sept. 13 -- Aryna Sabalenka suffered a wild meltdown inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday as the two-time defending champion was denied a shot at a historic three-peat at the US Open, losing to Elena Rybakina 6-4, 5-7, 6-2 in the final. She beat herself up throughout the 2-hour, 21-minute ordeal, which was littered with self-inflicted mistakes.

Moments into the opening set, right after Rybakina snatched an early break - the first of the three she secured in the US Open final - Sabalenka smashed a ball into the stands in frustration and received a code violation from the chair umpire. The Belarusian never recovered in the set, but bounced back in the second, securing a break to force a decider.

However, the unforced errors kept ...