Aryna Sabalenka fulfilled her ambition to win the US Open on Saturday, when she defeated Jessica Pegula, 7-5 7-5, to land her third Grand Slam title under the closed roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium. I think, mentally, I became really strong. I keep reminding myself, ‘Come on Aryna, you’ve been through a lot, slowly things will come back to you’.
It was redemption for the Belarusian World No 2, who lost in last year’s final to another American, Coco Gauff, one of her darkest days, in front of a partisan crowd, who were again cheering for the underdog, Pegula, playing in her first Grand Slam final at the age of 30.26-year old Sabalenka pockets $3.6 million for her efforts, which takes her 2024 prize money to $8 million, while Pegula earned a career-high pay-day of $1.8 million as the runner-up, nearly doubling her winnings this year to $3.7 million.
The US Open was a break-through event for Pegula, who had won 6 WTA titles but never advanced past the quarter-final at a Grand Slam.She was, in fact, 0-6 in the Last 8 appearances at major events until this week, when she broke that duck with an impressive upset win over World No 1, Iga Swiatek, 6-2 6-3.
“I have been [to the quarter-finals] so many freakin’ times. I just kept losing,” Pegula said in her on-court post-Swiatek match interview. “Everyone keeps asking me about it, but I was like, ‘I don’t know what to do. I just need to get there again, and win the match’. Thank God I was able to do it and, finally – finally – I can say, ‘semi-finalist’.
She can say ‘finalist’ now, but the 1 hour 53 minute defeat on Saturday surely broke her heart, having dreamed of winning a maiden Grand Slam title in front of a home crowd in the New York state where she was born.
“If I can’t take confidence from this, there’s got to be something wrong,” she said in her post-match press conference. “I’ve taken confidence from winning a 250 [level tournament], from winning a [WTA] 1000… multiple ones now. Then to be able to be a Grand Slam finalist, I think that was, kind of, the last thing for me.
“You can always improve, you can always get better,” added the 30-year-old runner-up.
Pegula is riding the crest of a wave after entering the US Open ranked 6th in the world, and, following her run to the final, she will replace Gauff as the highest-ranked American when the new rankings are released on Monday.
Taking in the chaos on Ashe after a final, Pegula sat quietlycontemplating what might have been.
“I wish she would have let me have one set,” she joked during the ceremony, characterising Sabalenka as maybe ‘the best hard-court player in the world’.
“I’m speechless right now,” said Sabalenka when asked about the long-elusive and ‘beautiful’ US Open trophy. “I’m just super proud of myself. I never say that, but I’m super proud.”
Sabalenka won the Australian Open for a second time in January, and has now added the US Open to her growing portfolio of titles.
The 26-year-old had to withdraw from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, but finished with a 18-1 record in the 3 other Grand Slams, while, even more impressively, she only lost 3 of the 40 sets she played, one of which was here at Flushing Meadows this year.
It was by no means an easy victory, though, as Sabalenka had to overcome come-backs from Pegula in both sets to claim her 3rd Grand Slam final, threatening a repeat of the wobble she suffered last year at the hands of Gauff, and there were some very nervy moments.
The final started with a couple of easy service holds, with each delivering an ace, and it was Sabalenka who was the first to show signs of nerves as she slipped to 15-40 when serving at 1-1.
Pegula broke with a rocketing return, grabbing the set’s first advantage, but then she too succumbed to nerves, and dropped her own serve to level the score at 2-2.
With the early-stage tensions dispelled, they settled, and Sabalenka’s power and willingness to approach the net, throwing in drop-shots here and there, all served to wrong-foot Pegula.
At the 30-minute mark, the American was serving at 2-5 down, and was relieved to pull herself out the game, with a pretty forehand approach to the net.
Serving at 5-3 up, Sabalenka felt the pressure build as Pegula earned herself a chance to break, but she failed to convert, and then earned another one to take it as the Belarusian looked frustrated sending her forehand sailing.
The first set was back on track, with Pegula now serving at 4-5, and the American made quick work of her service hold, while twice, in the next game, Sabalenka blew her chances to close it out with double-faults.
Finally, a skidding, 113 mph serve led to a Pegula error, and the American was faced with the task of holding her serve at 5-6, looking to get matters into a breaker, but Sabalenka kept up the pressure to earn herself 2 set points, only to miss out on both of them, and then 2 more came and went.
Pegula stayed steadily in combat, until she double-faulted to give the World No 2 her 5th chance, which Sabalenka seized to grab the set, 7-5.
Early in the second, Pegula’s error count was mounting, 15 of them to just 10 winners, while, on the other side of the net, Sabalenka scored 30 winners to 25 miscues as she cruised to a 3-0 lead.
Pegula is something of an escape artist, though, as she had proven against Karolina Muchova in the semi-final, having slipped to a 1-6, 0-2 deficit and coming through, and now the American stormed back again against Sabalenka, earning 2 break points when receiving at 1-3.
She converted on the second and, suddenly, the set was back on track, and Pegula found a way to win 4 straight games to earn a 4-3 lead, her nose ahead for the first time in the match.
She made it 5 games in a row and, suddenly, Sabalenka was down 3-5, and serving to stay in the set.
“I was getting ready for the third set,” she admitted later, but, instead, held her serve and then broke back to level the set at 5-5.
A short time later, up 6-5, Sabalenka fired 4 bruising forehands to put pressure on Pegula’s serve, and seized her 2nd match-point opportunity to win the set, 7-5, and the championship.
Sabalenka proved too strong for Pegula in the end, striking 40 winners to 22 for the American, and was 18 of 23 at net.
She may have lost control of her game in each set, but she was able to regain command.
“I think, mentally, I became really strong,” Sabalenka told ESPN when she was asked what had changed to make her a Grand Slam champion. “I keep reminding myself, ‘Come on Aryna, you’ve been through a lot, slowly things will come back to you’.
After falling to the court in celebration, and sharing the moment with her team soon after, Sabalenka climbed back out of the stands to await the presentation.
“I heard a lot of support,” Sabalenka said during the trophy ceremony. “You were cheering me on in those good moments.”
By winning the US Open, Sabalenka establishes herself as the pre-eminent force in women’s tennis for the moment, although Swiatek, no doubt, will have something to say about that.
Sabalenka’s gritty win is her first Grand Slam away from the Australian Open, and it makes her the only WTA player to currently hold 2 majors this season.
It also shows how she has matured since a year ago, improving both her game and her mental approach, while, in her last 28 Grand Slam matches on hard courts, she has 27 wins.
