Second seed bests Pegula for maiden US Open crown
©Corinne Dubreuil / FFTAfter losing in the final last year and in the semi-finals in 2022 and 2021, Aryna Sabalenka wanted nothing more than to finally lift the US Open trophy.
Against American No.6 seed Jessica Pegula in the final on Saturday, Sabalenka saw multiple leads slip through her fingers as the home crowd got more and more involved, urging Pegula to extend the contest.
But Sabalenka stood her ground and managed to close out the victory 7-5, 7-5 to secure a maiden US Open title and a third Grand Slam success overall.
“I’m speechless right now, because so many times I thought I was so close to get the US Open title, it’s always been a dream of mine and finally I got this beautiful trophy. It means a lot. It was a very difficult couple of weeks,” said Sabalenka, who entered the tournament with the Cincinnati title under her belt and is currently on a 12-match winning streak.
Sabalenka had also defeated Pegula in the Cincinnati final and is now 6-2 head-to-head in career meetings with the American.
Pegula joked during the trophy ceremony that she wished Sabalenka would have at least let her win one set.
Sabalenka responded with lots of praise towards Pegula, who will return to No.3 in the world rankings by virtue of reaching a maiden Grand Slam final in New York.
“Talking about Jessica, I know how tough it is to lose in the finals but you’re showing some amazing tennis and I’m more than sure that one day you’re going to get one… I mean not one, maybe more, but let’s start from one Grand Slam,” said Sabalenka with a laugh.
“Congratulations on a great summer. You’re an amazing player. In that second set I was just praying, literally standing there and praying to get this win and you’re talking about giving you one set… it means a lot.”
Pegula has had an impressive North American hard-court campaign that saw her win the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto and reach finals in Cincinnati and the US Open, finishing the swing with a 15-2 win-loss record.
The match started with the roof closed due to some forecasted showers, which made the stadium sound louder than ever at certain points during the final.
Pegula drew first blood, breaking for a 2-1 advantage but Sabalenka struck back by taking the next four games. The No.2 seed couldn’t serve out the set at 5-3 though, as Pegula went on a run of her own, to level the opening set at 5-all.
A marathon 11th game witnessed four deuces and saw Sabalenka save a break point to inch ahead 6-5. Serving to stay in the set, Pegula was under pressure and she couldn’t hold off a surging Sabalenka, who grabbed the lead on her fifth set point at the one-hour mark.
Pegula double-faulted to get broken early in the second as Sabalenka leapt to a 3-0 advantage and held a break point in game four.
The Arthur Ashe stadium crowd roared as Pegula saved it and the home favourite, buoyed by the support, swept five games in a row to spring ahead 5-3.
Serving for the second set, Pegula went down 0-40, and despite saving two break points, she faltered on the third, allowing Sabalenka back in the frame. It was all Sabalenka needed to regain confidence and halt Pegula’s momentum, snatching the last four games of the match to be crowned US Open champion.
“I remember all those tough losses in the past here. It’s going to sound easy but never give up on your dreams and just keep trying, keep working hard. If you’re really working hard and you’re sacrificing everything for a dream, you’re going to get it one day,” said Sabalenka, who now owns three major titles, two at the Australian Open and one in the US.
“I’m just super proud of myself. I never say that, but really guys, I’m super proud of myself, I’m proud of my team that no matter what, no matter which situation we were facing, this season and in the past, we were able to go through it and get all those beautiful trophies.”
Pegula was understandably disappointed with the loss, knowing she had a chance to take the match to a third set.
“I think she played some big tennis in some big moments,” said the 30-year-old Buffalo native.
“I think for sure I will take a lot of confidence from this in maybe like an hour or two, because like I said, I'm kind of annoyed. Not even annoyed losing the tournament. I think it's more just I was looking at it at, like, I just wanted to win the match. Now there is things that are just in my head that I feel I should have done better and stuff like that. But like I said, I think that will pass in a little bit.”
A marquee audience turned up for a marquee match-up on Saturday, headlined by Billie Jean King, who has the entire national tennis center named after her.
Seven-time Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton was in the stands, sat between reigning Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles and fashion icon Anna Wintour.
Golden State Warriors point guard and recent Olympic gold medalist Stephen Curry was in attendance, joined by his wife Ayesha.
Rapper Flava Flav, who sponsored the US women's Olympic water polo team at Paris 2024, turned up for women's tennis on Saturday as well, while Hollywood A-listers like Courtney Cox, Tina Fey, Claire Danes and her husband Hugh Dancy, Emily Blunt and her husband John Krasinski, Emma Roberts, and Selma Blair were also amongst the crowd in Arthur Ashe stadium.
Sabalenka is the first woman to win both singles hard-court Grand Slams in the same season since Angelique Kerber in 2016, and the fifth overall to accomplish this in the Open Era after Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, and Kerber.
This is the first season since 2014 that there is no first-time Grand Slam singles champion in women’s tennis.
Sabalenka hit 40 winners and 34 unforced errors in the final against Pegula. She finishes the Grand Slam season with a tour-leading 476 winners struck through the four majors.
Pegula won just three of the 15 rallies that were nine shots or longer during the final against Sabalenka.
Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell beat German pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in straight sets to become the first all-Aussie team to win the US Open men’s doubles title since Tod Woodbridge and Mark Woodforde won in 1995-96.
“I wish she would have at least let me get one set.”
– Always one to speak her mind, Pegula shares her thoughts during the trophy ceremony on Saturday.
“Being able to stalk to Steph, that was really cool. I met him briefly at the Olympics during the opening ceremony and we traded pins. But yeah, it was cool for him to come out. I guess he really wants to kind of keep supporting women's sports and get really into it. It was really fun to meet him and also his wife.
“Funny story, my husband, his iPhone name is Steph Curry because he loves Steph Curry. If you connect to bluetooth or send him something on AirDrop, it's Steph Curry's iPhone. So I kind of left early and he texted me and he was so excited, he didn't want to say anything. I was like, ‘Please tell me you did not tell him about the iPhone thing’. He's like, ‘Oh, yeah, I did’.
“I thought that was really cute. He was like, ‘No, he loved it’. I was like, ‘Did he? Or did he really think you were kind of crazy?’ I guess he thought it was pretty funny. He was like, ‘Oh, you've got to show my wife that’.
“That was kind of a cool moment for him because he's a diehard Steph Curry fan, and I think I actually first watched him at a NCAA tournament in Buffalo. He always says he's an OG fan, so that was really cool.”
– Pegula reveals a funny story on how big of a fan her husband is of Stephen Curry.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
