Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka won her first US Open title, beating American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a Grand Slam final on home soil. A year after reaching the final and losing to Coco Gauff, Sabalenka prevented an American from repeating in the women's singles title and claimed her third career Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka hit 40 winners to Pegula's 17 and made 6 of 15 break attempts. Both players made just 65 percent of their first serves, but Sabalenka made 42 percent of her second serves to Pegula's 21 percent. In the end, Sabalenka's strength was too much for the American, who often struggled to chase down the Belarusian's backhands.
Sabalenka, the second seed, is ending a strong Grand Slam season on a high note, while Pegula, the sixth seed, will be rethinking her plans but should take some solace in the fact that she has had her best Grand Slam result so far.
Pegula had the first chance to break Sabalenka on serve in the second game, and thanks to the Belarusian's shaky first serve, she converted her first shot for a double break. A missed return from Pegula in the next game gave Sabalenka her first attempt at a break, which she also converted. She then won the next four games to set up serving at 5-2.
Sabalenka made a string of errors, allowing Pegula to tie the score in three straight games and get back on serve. Trailing 6-5, Pegula fended off two set point opportunities from Sabalenka but couldn't hold off Sabalenka to force a tiebreak, where the Belarusian finally broke on her fifth set point attempt.
In the second set, Sabalenka broke early and threatened to take the second set, but Pegula held and broke back to serve. Pegula then broke to take the lead herself, fending off a quick Sabalenka break in the second frame to go up 5-3. But Sabalenka improved her play and her power became too much for Pegula to match, and the match ended in two sets.
Sabalenka, 26, has been extremely impressive on the court in recent years, reaching the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments in 2023, something no one has managed to do in one year since Serena Williams in 2016. She reached the U.S. Open final in 2023 but ultimately lost to American Coco Gauff, and the only Grand Slam tournament she had won prior to Saturday's match was in Australia.
Sabalenka faced four seeded players en route to the final, the highest coming in the quarterfinals against No. 7 seeded Chen Qingwen. The win was an impressive one for Sabalenka, as she beat Chen in straight sets to set up a semifinal match against No. 13 seeded Emma Navarro, who she also lost in straight sets. Her other two opponents were No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round and No. 33 Elise Mertens in the round of 16.
The 30-year-old Pegula was supported by her home crowd throughout the tournament, making the US Open her best Grand Slam tournament to date. She has played some great tennis in recent years, with her best results being the quarterfinals at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon, although she has not made it beyond the quarterfinals at any tournament this year. Pegula is also well known as the daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the NFL's Buffalo Bills and the NHL's Buffalo Sabres.
Many thought Pegula's run would end when she faced top-seeded Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals, but it was one of Pegula's easier matches. Prior to her semifinal match, Pegula had not dropped a set throughout the tournament, winning in straight sets against Sofia Kenin and Swiatek along the way.
In the semifinals, she faced unseeded Karolina Muchova and lost the first set roughly before winning the second and third sets. Pegula had won 10 games against top-five players before facing Sabalenka on Saturday.
Here's how Pegula and Sabalenka got to the U.S. Open final: The men's singles final will be played on Sunday between American Taylor Fritz and top-seeded Jannik Sinner.
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka's US Open Journey
Defeated Priscilla Hong 6-3, 6-3
No doubt about it. Lucia Bronzetti, 6-3, 6-1
No doubt about it. No.29 Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 1-6, 6-2
Defeated #33 Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4
No doubt about it. No.7 Zheng Qinwen, 6-1, 6-2
No doubt about it. No.13 Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6(2)
No doubt about it. No. 6 Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5
World No. 6 Jessica Pegula's US Open Journey
Defeated Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3
Defeated Sofia Kenin 7-6 (4), 6-3
No doubt about it. Jessica Buzas Maneiro, 6-3, 6-3
Defeated Diana Schneider 6-4, 6-2
No doubt about it. No.1 Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4
No doubt about it. Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
