After two weeks of upsets, thrilling finishes, a healthy dose of drama and some of the best matches of the year, the stage is set: Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka will play American Amanda Anisimova in the US Open final.

Both Aryna Sabalenka and Amanda Anisimova rallied in their semifinals — the World No. 1 over Jessica Pegula and the World No. 9 over Naomi Osaka — setting up a rematch of their Wimbledon semifinal this summer, which Anisimova won in three sets.

Sabalenka, a three-time major winner, is the defending champion in New York, and Anisimova is into her second career (and consecutive) Slam final after reaching the championship match at Wimbledon in July. A win would secure her first Grand Slam title.

Here’s everything you need to know as we eagerly await the final match of the final Grand Slam of the year.

When is the singles final?

The final is scheduled for Saturday at 4 p.m ET in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

What are the points and prize money at stake?

In a record-breaking year for the US Open — and for the Hologic WTA Tour overall — the winner will receive $5 million, and the runner-up will take home $2.5 million.

The champion will also earn 2,000 PIF WTA Rankings points, and the runner-up will get 1,300. Sabalenka, who currently has 11,225 points, is assured to stay No. 1 in the world regardless of the result. Anisimova, who came into this tournament with 3,869 points, will jump to No. 4 in the world, behind Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.

How did they get to the final?

It’s been a relative breeze for Sabalenka in Queens — up until the semifinal — with the exception of a couple of tiebreaks (which she’s been historically proficient in this year). Until Thursday night, she had yet to drop a set — beating Rebeka Masarova, Polina Kudermetova, Leylah Fernandez and Cristina Bucsa — before Pegula finally took one from her.

Her body received some much-needed rest — she’s the only player on tour to log over 100 hours on court this year — when Marketa Vondrousova was forced to withdraw from their quarterfinal match with a knee injury.

These big-stage moments have begun to feel routine for Sabalenka: This is her third Slam final of the season and her fourth in five majors. It’s also her third straight US Open final. She hasn’t won a Slam since last year, though — at this tournament — with a pair of final losses and a semifinal defeat, and a win on Saturday would put an exclamation point on yet another fantastic season. 

It’s been a far more eventful and dramatic tournament for Anisimova, who was looking to rebound after her painful 6-0, 6-0 trouncing at the hands of Swiatek in the Wimbledon final. The 24-year-old has looked strong from the first ball, beating Kimberly Birrell, Maya Joint, Jaqueline Cristian (in three sets) and Beatriz Haddad Maia to reach the quarterfinals.

Back in the final eight, she ran into the same challenge that ended her Wimbledon run. Playing in a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the raucous crowd in her favor, Anisimova upset the the six-time Grand Slam champion Swiatek in straight sets to make her first US Open semifinal. After the match, Anisimova called it the most meaningful win of her life.

She followed that up with her win over four-time Grand Slam champion Osaka, who had won the first set in a tiebreak.

Anisimova, who’s the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon and US Open finals in the same season since 2002 (Venus and Serena Williams), has showcased explosive power these past two weeks. She’s hit the most winners (177) of any woman in the field, has hit the second most aces (35) this fortnight — only Osaka had more — and has converted the third most break points (29), trailing only Pegula and Osaka.

How do they stack up?

Would you believe me if I told you that of all the players on the Hologic WTA Tour, Anisimova has beaten Sabalenka more than she’s beaten any other player?

It sounds unbelievable, but it’s true.

Head-to-Head record (Anisimova leads 6-3)

2025 Wimbledon (Grass): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 6-4, 4-6, 6-4

2025 French Open (Clay): Sabalenka d. Anisimova 7-5, 6-3

2024 Toronto (Hard): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 6-4, 6-2

2024 Australian Open (Hard): Sabalenka d. Anisimova 6-3, 6-2

2022 Rome (Clay): Sabalenka d. Anisimova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2

2022 Madrid (Clay): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 6-2, 3-6, 6-4

2022 Charleston (Clay): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 3-6, 6-4, 6-3

2019 French Open (Clay): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 6-4, 6-2

2019 Australian Open (Hard): Anisimova d. Sabalenka 6-3, 6-2

What milestones and key stats are at play?

Most importantly, this would be Anisimova’s first career Grand Slam title. 

For context, she would become just the fourth player since 1975 to defeat current or former World No. 1s in the quarterfinals, semifinals and final en route to the title. (Steffi Graf, Serena Williams and Jennifer Capriati also did it.) She’d also become just the third player to take down both Swiatek and Sabalenka at a Grand Slam, joining Victoria Azarenka at the 2020 US Open and Madison Keys in Melbourne earlier this year.

Anisimova’s late-summer surge has been remarkable: She’s just the fifth American to reach the singles final at consecutive Slams since 2000, joining Lindsay Davenport, Capriati and the Williams sisters.

Speaking of American tennis, let’s take a moment to acknowledge the incredible Grand Slam (and overall) success of American women over the past year: On Saturday, an American woman will play in a Grand Slam final for the fifth consecutive time, with Anisimova (twice) joining Pegula, Keys and Gauff. They won two of those, with Keys winning the Australian Open and Gauff winning the French.

Sabalenka, meanwhile, has the opportunity to etch her name further in the history books. She’s looking to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2014 to win back-to-back US Open titles, and a win on Saturday would give her 100 career major singles wins. (In the past 15 years, only Swiatek hit the century mark at Slams faster than Sabalenka.)

And since 1988 — when the Australian Open switched to hard courts — Sabalenka is just the third player (along with Graf and Martina Hingis) to reach the women’s singles final at both the Australian Open and US Open in three straight years. This would also be the second time she’s successfully defended a major title, after doing so in Australia in 2024.