Aryna Sabalenka is the queen of the hard court.
Sabalenka defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the U.S. Open women’s final on Saturday in New York City to secure her first U.S. Open title and her third career major overall, all on the hard court. It was a moment of redemption for Sabalenka, who was the runner-up of last year’s U.S. Open.
The Belarusian dropped to the court on Arthur Ashe Stadium after winning championship point against Pegula, who was competing in her first career Grand Slam final. Sabalenka’s 2024 U.S. Open title joins her back-to-back Australian Open wins (2023, 2024).
Sabalenka looked like she was going to run away with the first set. After dropping her serve, Sablenka won five games straight to take a 5-2 lead. Sabalenka had the opportunity to close out the first set on serve, but her service game faltered and a double fault and number of unforced errors led to Pegula breaking, 5-4. Pegula tied it up 5-5 after holding her serve, but Sabalenka jumped back in front 6-5 after a 14-point service game. Sabalenka went on to take the first set, 7-5.
It was a moment of déjà vu. Sabalenka had a one set lead over American Coco Gauff in last year’s U.S. Open final, before she gave up two straight sets and the championship. The Belarusian wasn’t going to let that happen this time around.
Sabalenka carried her momentum into the second set and quickly went up 3-0, but Pegula came back and won five consecutive games to take the lead 5-3. Sabalenka answered back with a break of her own to tie it up at 5-5. She easily held serve to go up 6-5 and broke Pegula again for the U.S. Open title.
With the win, Sabalenka will take home $3.6 million, while Pegula will pocket $1.8 million as the runner-up.
Aryna Sabalenka’s path to US Open Final
Tournament’s No. 2 seed
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1st round: Defeated Priscilla Hon 6-3, 6-3
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2nd round: Defeated Lucia Bronzetti 6-3, 6-1
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3rd round: Defeated (29) Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 6-1, 6-2
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4th round: Defeated (33) Elise Mertens 6-2, 6-4
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Quarterfinals: Defeated (7) Qinwen Zheng 6-1, 6-2
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Semifinals: Defeated (13) Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (7-2)
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Final: Defeated (6) Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: US Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula in women’s final
