The 2024 U.S. Open women's singles final has been decided. Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula will face off on Saturday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Whoever wins will win their first title at the U.S. Open, the final Grand Slam of the year.
Sabalenka qualified with a straight-sets win over 13th seed Emma Navarro, 6-3, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals, while Pegula needed three sets to beat Karolina Muncova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the penultimate match.
The 26-year-old Sabalenka is looking to win her third Grand Slam title and her first in New York. She had a fantastic 2023 season, winning the Australian Open and reaching the semifinals of all four Grand Slam tournaments (becoming the first player to do so in the same season since Serena Williams in 2016), but lost in the final to Coco Gauff.
But the loss was merely a setback. She began this year's Grand Slam season by winning again in Australia for her second major title. She is currently ranked No. 2 in singles and is favored to play in Saturday's final, but her loss to Gauff will continue to matter given how Sabalenka struggled in the matchup.
In fact, that was a major concern late in Thursday's semifinal when she was leading Navarro by one set. Sabalenka was in complete control of the match but was broken multiple times in the second set before fighting back to force a tiebreak and win. Despite hitting 34 winners and winning 74 percent of her first serves, Sabalenka committed 34 unforced errors to Navarro's 13.
Pegula, 30, is currently ranked sixth in the world. She has played some of the best tennis of her career over the past few years, but this is her best Grand Slam result. Her best results at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon were quarterfinals, making the US Open on home soil her best Grand Slam result. She certainly had the crowd cheering her on during Thursday's match.
Pegula held her first service game against Muchova but quickly got out of hand. Muchova won every game after Pegula's first serve, taking the first set in just 28 minutes. She made two of her three break attempts while Pegula missed all three. Pegula looked more tired than anything, which is not uncommon at this late stage of the season.
But in the end, she wasn't too tired to storm back. She was broken quickly in the second set, but then held twice, and with consecutive breaks from Muchova she took the lead, eventually winning the set and forcing a third set. At this point, it felt like Muchova had run out of gas. The third set was very similar to the first, with Pegula emerging victorious.
Despite Pegula's strong run, she had only faced one seeded player in the semifinals – the number one seed, Iga Swiatek, who Pegula beat in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.
Sabalenka won in straight sets against No. 7 ranked Qing-Wen Chen in the quarterfinals of this tournament, and then won in straight sets against No. 33 ranked Elise Mertens in the round of 16.
The women's singles tournament will conclude on Saturday, while the men's singles tournament will conclude with the rest of the tournament on Sunday. The women's final will begin at 4 PM ET at Arthur Ashe Stadium and will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes. Live streaming will be available on ESPN Plus and wherever ESPN is broadcast. Below is the full schedule and both players' US Open progress so far.
US Open Tennis Women's Singles Final
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Jessica Pegula (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET)
2nd place: Aryna Sabalenka's journey to the final
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)
6. Jessica Pegula's Path to the Semifinals
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
