Sabalenka battles past Pegula, wins US Open crown

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka hoisted the trophy in New York at last after years of close calls, as she outplayed American sixth seed Jessica Pegula 7-5 7-5 in the US Open women’s final on Saturday.
Sabalenka won her first title at Flushing Meadows a year after coming up short in the final. Twice before, she reached the semi-finals. On Saturday, she blocked out the wild cheers for the hometown favourite at Arthur Ashe Stadium to break Pegula in the final game.
“So many times I thought I was so close to get US Open title. Finally, I get this beautiful trophy,” said the second seed, who fought back from a breakdown in both sets to claim victory and fell to the court in her moment of triumph.
Pegula, 30, had waited a long time to reach her first major final and came to New York in fine form after winning in Toronto. But she could not match her opponent’s raw power despite the noisy backing of the New York crowd.
“To be standing here in my first Grand Slam final and then coming off such a hot summer, I mean I didn’t expect it so I’m just really grateful for the last few weeks of tennis,” said Pegula.
The roof on Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed due to heavy rain and the players traded breaks twice as they settled into the stormy affair in front of a celebrity-packed house. Sabalenka held her serve through a four-deuce 11th game and fought through a spine-tingling 12th, mixing precision at the net with her usual power from the baseline before breaking her opponent on the fifth set point.
Pegula struggled with her rackets throughout the match, complaining to her coaches as she seemed unable to find the right tension on her strings, and it looked as though she would not put up a fight in the second set when Sabalenka went up 3-0. The American found another level and brought fans to their feet when she won the next five games in a furious fight back, a month after Sabalenka denied her the title in Cincinnati.
Sabalenka levelled when she sent over a forehand winner that just kissed the line on break point in the 10th game and sought to bring a swift end to the contest, holding serve and then applying pressure from the baseline in the final game.
Sabalenka’s backhand return of Pegula’s 30-40 serve ignited a desperate six shot rally, ending with a break as the American’s forehand sailed out.
“Honestly, after me leading 3-love I didn’t really expect her to come back with such a high level,” she said.
“I’m really glad that I was able to hold my serve in that 5-3 down. Then to break her back, it gave me so much belief that I can close this match in two sets.”
Tears flowed immediately for Sabalenka as she claimed her third Grand Slam title after winning the Australian Open twice. She high-fived fans as she ran up the stands to share a joyful celebration with her team.
“I remember all those tough loses in the past here and you know, it’s going to sound cheesy but never give up on your dream and just keep trying,” she said.
The Belarusian dropped only one set in New York on her way to the final as key contenders including defending champion Coco Gauff and top seed Iga Swiatek crashed out. The performance was particularly sweet after injury sidelined her midway through the season, and she missed both Wimbledon and the Paris Games.
“I’m super proud of myself, super proud of my team that no matter what, no matter what situation we were facing this season and in the past we were able to go through it,” she said. Sabalenka collected a cool $3.6mn with the win – but the New York crowd gave her proper credit as she lifted the trophy she had craved for so long.
“Of course I expected you to cheer for Jessica. That wouldn’t be normal if you would cheer for me,” she told the fans in her post-match remarks.
“Thank you so much for all the support throughout these two incredible weeks. You guys are really amazing and you make this place very special.”

SABALENKA FACTFILE
Age: 26
Nation: Belarus
WTA Ranking: 2
Seeding: 2
Grand Slam titles:3 (Australian Open 2023, 2024, US Open 2024)
• Born in Minsk. Began playing tennis at age six.
• Began her professional career playing on the ITF Circuit in 2012.
• Won 3 singles titles and 1 doubles title on ITF Circuit in 2015.
• Played first WTA qualifying event at Rabat in 2016 and played in her first WTA main draw at Dubai the following year. Ended 2017 ranked number 78 for first top-100 finish.
• Won two WTA titles at New Haven and Wuhan in 2018. First Top-20 season finishing ranked 11th.
• Won 3 WTA singles titles and 3 doubles titles in 2019.
• Won Doha, Ostrava and Linz titles for a joint Tour-leading record in 2020.
• Won Abu Dhabi and Madrid in 2021 and reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon and the US Open.
• Reached the 2022 US Open semi-finals. Qualified for the WTA Finals for the second consecutive year and finished runner-up losing to Caroline Garcia.
• Won the Australian Open and reached Wimbledon and French Open semi-finals and finished runner-up at the US Open in 2023.
• Reached a career-high ranking of No.1 in September 2023.
• Won the Australian Open for the second consecutive year in January 2024 and reached the quarter-finals of French Open before missing Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics with a shoulder injury.
• Won the 2024 US Open by beating J Pegula.