In the US Open women's final for the second consecutive year, Aryna Sabalenka broke through with her first championship after defeating Jessica Pegula in straight sets on Saturday, 7-5, 7-5.
No. 2 seed Sabalenka didn’t overpower No. 6 Pegula with her serve and groundstrokes as she did in her semifinal victory over Emma Navarro on Thursday. But her poised shotmaking and strong stroke neutralized an excellent defensive effort from Pegula, who frustrated Sabalenka with her returns.
After winning a tough first set in which she showed some frustration at her inability to put Pegula away, Sabalenka looked as if she would cruise to a second set, taking a 3-0 lead.
Pegula at times looked as if she had no answer for Sabalenka’s powerful serve and forehand. Yet her defensive efforts kept her in the match, even if it didn’t show on the scoreboard.
However, Pegula then fought back. After holding serve to make it 3-1, she broke Sabalenka’s serve to close to 3-2. Suddenly, she was back in the set with the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd — made louder by a closed roof — decidedly on her side.
Though Pegula occasionally seemed rattled, complaining that her rackets "felt dead" — perhaps because of the conditions caused by the closed roof — and an inability to gain an advantage against Sabalenka's power, she held serve to tie the set at 3-3. She then broke Sabalenka's serve to go on top 4-3 and it appeared that the match might improbably head to a third set.
Pegula won five games in a row and looked like she took control of the match. Sabalenka then made the play of the match on a no-look, cross-court backhand hit with her back to the net and just out of Pegula's reach to win the point.
Sabalenka followed by breaking Pegula's serve to tie the set at 5-5. That seemingly helped her regain confidence and again assert herself with power on her serve and forehand to hold for a 6-5 lead.
Finally, Sabalenka broke Pegula's serve with two scorching forehands that the American could barely get to. Pegula's second return went long, giving Sabalenka match point, a 7-5 win and her first US Open championship.
"I wish she would have at least let me get one set," Pegula joked afterwards. "We had a tough match in Cincinnati a few weeks ago [Sabalenka won 6-3, 7-5] and she's one of the best in the world. She's super powerful and isn't going to give you anything, she can take the racquet out of your hand.
With the victory, the Belarusian earns her third Grand Slam title, adding to the two Australian Open championships she's won. She is the first woman to win both the Australian Open and US Open in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016.
Sabalenka is also the fifth player to win two titles on hard court surfaces in the same season, joining Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Kerber, according to the BBC. With the hard court suiting her game so well, Sabalenka could be adding plenty to her trophy case in the future.