Iva Jovic added another milestone to her rapid rise by defending her Guadalajara Open title with a straight-sets win over Peyton Stearns.

The American teenager first captured her maiden WTA title at the Mexican event, and she returned a year later to repeat the feat. Seeded second in the WTA 500 draw, Jovic put together a title run that included wins over Cristina Bucsa, Zeynep Sonmez, and Magdalena Frech before finishing the job against Stearns.

The victory brought 451 ranking points, lifting Jovic to world No. 13 in the WTA Tour rankings for the first time in her career. She also collected $185,000 in prize money, taking her 2026 earnings to $2,389,288.

In her on-court interview after the final, Jovic said: “Oh my gosh, guys. What can I say? It’s amazing to be back here in the final with this beautiful trophy and this sombrero. And thank you guys for staying throughout this throughout this rain.

“We’re having a nice little moment here. Honestly, I love it here. You guys have given me so much energy. The crowd is my favorite thing about coming here. So, thank you so much for being here.

“Um, okay, I’m gonna make this fast, but thank you to my coaches, Gabe and Tom. Thank you to Integral. Thank you to the Gustavos. Thank you to the Ball Kids umpires.

“Everyone for making this possible. My sponsors as well. And stay dry everyone. But thank you so much. It’s amazing to be back.”

Jovic will now move on to the China Open, the final Masters tournament of the year on the WTA Tour, where the field is expected to be much stronger than in Guadalajara. Even so, her decision to take full advantage of the opportunity in Mexico has now made her a two-time WTA champion as a teenager.

Aryna Sabalenka is one win away from becoming only the third woman to capture three straight US Open titles, and one of her coaches has put Elena Rybakina on notice before the final.

Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, owns a 25-1 record at the season-ending major. She has now reached four consecutive finals there, falling to Coco Gauff in 2023 before beating Jessica Pegula in 2024 and Amanda Anisimova in 2025.

That track record has only strengthened the sense that Flushing Meadows suits her game. Performance coach Jason Stacy described the setting in blunt terms during the pre-final press conference, saying other players are “just guests” at what he views as the Belarusian’s home turf.

“The way I like to put it – no disrespect to anybody – is that this is her house, and all the other girls are just guests, and it’s time for them to go home,” he said in the pre-final press conference.

“Her showing up and understanding that it’s her job to dictate the pace, to understand what her strategy is and to not go to the level of the person across the net, not to meet them where they’re at, but ‘I’m here to just do my job, and that’s it.’

“That’s how she plays when she plays well. She’s in that moment where she’s getting that connection with herself and that alignment. When she can get out there and play that way, then everyone’s in trouble.”

Rybakina, who will move ahead of Sabalenka to No 1 in the WTA Rankings after the tournament, is the only obstacle between Sabalenka and a place alongside Chris Evert and Serena Williams in the small group of women to win three in a row in New York.

Sabalenka’s route to the final has not always looked smooth over recent months. She exited in the round of 16 at Wimbledon, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open, and plenty had already written her off before the hard-court swing in New York.

Instead, she has surged back at the right time, losing only one set on the way to the final. Her semi-final performance against Pegula stood out most, a 7-5, 6-2 victory that underlined her form.

Former world No 18 Max Mirnyi, who joined Stacy and Anton Dubrov on her coaching team in 2025, said Sabalenka has been building through the event.

“For Aryna, we can see that she has been improving as the tournament goes on. We’re excited. She certainly fits well with New York. I think she fits perfectly for this environment.

“She likes this circumstance of being the glamour girl and having the spotlight on her, dealing with the pressures of the night sessions, and she thrives in this pressure. That’s why she has been successful.”

John McEnroe has chosen Alexander Zverev as his pick for the 2026 US Open men’s singles title, bypassing both Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic.

The field has already been reshaped by a series of setbacks. World No 1 Jannik Sinner will not compete in New York because of a knee injury. He has not played since winning his fifth major title at Wimbledon last month. Alcaraz arrives as the defending champion, but has not played a singles match in more than four months after a wrist injury in April. Djokovic, a 24-time major winner, has managed only one match since losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals to Sinner, with that outing ending in an opening-round defeat in Cincinnati.

Speaking to Eurosport, McEnroe made the case for Zverev despite the German’s recent results. “There are strong arguments that he (Zverev) is the favourite for the title,” said the seven-time Grand Slam champion.

“Even though things haven’t gone particularly well for him this summer, I believe he is more confident than ever.

“He played brilliantly at Wimbledon and seemed to be playing at almost his absolute best. Besides, he doesn’t have to play against Sinner.

“In best-of-five sets, he is simply harder to beat because he’s extremely fit.”

McEnroe also predicted that the draw could produce something unexpected. “I actually believe something unusual will happen.

“I’m not sure exactly what, but there are a handful of players who could surprise us in a similar way to how Flavio Cobolli surprised us at the French Open.

“That’s possible because there’s a certain amount of uncertainty surrounding Carlos and Novak. The door is open for about ten players.”

During an appearance on the TODAY show, McEnroe pointed to the possibility of an American breakthrough if Alcaraz does not go all the way.

“I am most excited about Carlos Alcaraz being back playing, he’s been hurt for four months. He had a wrist problem,” said the former world No 1.

“If he doesn’t go all the way, I think the door is more open for the American male players. I’d go with Ben Shelton. But there’s a couple of other guys, Frances Tiafoe.”