Monday 16 / September / 2024
WASHINGTON: A stellar Aryna Sabalenka captured the women's crown at the 2024 US Open on Saturday, defeating American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5.
Up 3-0 in the second set, Sabalenka was forced to fend off a furious comeback bid from the Buffalo, N.Y., native, who won five straight games to threaten a third set. But Sabalenka snapped back with four consecutive games of her own to win her first US Open singles trophy.
With the title, Sabalenka can also be crowned the queen of hard courts. Her prior two major titles were won on Australian Open cement, in January of this year and in 2023. Outside the majors, 11 of 13 of Sabalenka’s titles have been won on hard courts. And the No. 2 seed is on a 12-match hard-court winning streak, having taken the Cincinnati Open two weeks ago—beating Pegula in the final there, not incidentally.
That’s a lot of winning. But Sabalenka may well have felt an eerie echo entering Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday. The 26-year-old has bowed out on that stage in the US Open semifinals twice, in 2021 and 2022. She advanced to her first final here in 2023, when another American ranked below her at the time—that would be Coco Gauff—took the title in three tough sets. Like Pegula, it was Gauff’s first Slam final. Like Pegula, Gauff beat Karolina Muchova in the semifinals. And just like last year, the Ashe crowd roared its support for Sabalenka's home-grown opponent.
The No. 6-seeded Pegula, age 30, has had to contend with her own version of great-but-not-glorious Grand Slam results. She’d stalled out in major quarterfinals six times over the course of her career before beating No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek this tournament to secure her first quarterfinal win at a Slam. That victory pushed her late-summer win-loss record to 15-1—the one loss handed to her by Sabalenka in Cincy. Before that, Pegula successfully defended her title at the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto.
More impressive still, Pegula’s red-hot run came after a disappointing—even distressing—spring: She sat out the clay season due to neck and rib injuries.
"If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I'd be in the final of the US Open, I would have laughed so hard," said Pegula after advancing to the title round.
The match—held under a closed roof due to rain—started with a couple of easy service holds, with each player contributing an ace. Sabalenka was the first to show her nerves, slipping to 15-40 when serving at 1-1. Pegula broke with a rocketing return, grabbing the set’s first advantage. But then she showed nerves too and dropped her own serve to level the score, 2-2.
With the match’s early-stage awkwardness dispelled, the players seemed to settle into their games. And the players know each other’s games well. Sabalenka, who was world No. 1 after last year’s US Open, came in with a 5-2 edge over Pegula. The American’s highest ranking was world No. 3, also achieved last fall.
Sabalenka, fair to say, has the more impressive CV. And her power—very much on display early on in this final—has been another thing to fear this fortnight. The No. 2 seed also displayed a willingness to approach the net, throw in drop shots and otherwise wrong-footing Pegula with both pace and guile.
At the 30-minute mark, Pegula was serving down 2-5—and serving well, with four aces on the match, compared to Sabalenka’s three. The American looked relieved to pull out that game, with a pretty forehand approach to the net.
Would Sabalenka, serving at 5-3, feel the pressure? Yes, she would. Pegula earned herself a chance to break, failed to convert, and then earned another one. Sabalenka looked frustrated when she slapped back Pegula’s return, sending a forehand sailing.
And so the first set was back on track, with Pegula serving at 4-5. The American made quick work of her service hold. Twice in the next game, Sabalenka blew 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. Sabalenka kept up the pressure to earn her two set points. She missed out on both of them. And then two more. For her part, Pegula stayed steady—until she double faulted to give her opponent her fifth chance. Sabalenka seized it to take the set, 7-5.
Would Pegula be able to turn the match around? Early in the second set, the American’s error count was mounting, 15 of them to just 10 winners. On the other side of the net, Sabalenka—with 30 winners to 25 errors—cruised to 3-0 lead.
But in her semifinal match, Pegula proved herself something of an escape artist. Against Muchova, the American slipped to a 1-6, 0-2 deficit, only to storm back. That kind of comeback looked possible when Pegula earned two break points when receiving at 1-3. She converted on the second and suddenly the set was back on serve.
Credit goes to Pegula for finding a way to win four straight games and earning a 4-3 lead, her first in the match. Make that five straight games and suddenly Sabalenka, down 3-5, was serving to stay in the set.
After the match, Sabalenka admitted that at this crucial point, she was contemplating the distinct possibility that the match might go the distance. “I was getting ready for the third set,” she said.
Instead, she held onto her serve and then broke back to level the set to 5-5. A short time later, up 6-5, Sabalenka hit four bruising forehands to put pressure on Pegula’s serve. She seized her second match-point opportunity to win the set, 7-5, and the championship.
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 championship ceremony. Taking in the chaos that is Ashe after a final, the winner looked contemplative. Not so far away, so did Pegula—but in a very different way.
“I wish she would have let me have one set,” joked the American during the ceremony, characterizing 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.”
Call Sabalenka the girl with the tiger tattoo—she has one on her left forearm. And call her a US Open champion.
WHAT IT MEANS: If there were ghosts of US Opens past in Sabalenka’s head, she dismissed them. In last year’s women’s singles final, Sabalenka was a set up and in command when Gauff—spurred on by a raucous Ashe crowd—mounted a stirring comeback to snatch the title away. Pegula appeared primed to do the same this year as she worked the home fans into a frenzy with her second-set effort. But this time, Sabalenka kept her cool and authored an alternate ending.
While Pegula could not claim the trophy, she will earn a new career-high WTA ranking on the heels of her best major run. Come Monday, the American will move up three places to No. 3 in the world. American Emma Navarro will also hit a new high, rising from No. 12 to No. 8. For her part, Sabalenka will remain world No. 2 and, despite crashing out in the quarterfinals here, Swiatek will retain her No.1 spot.
MATCH POINT: With the win, Sabalenka became the first woman to claim both hard-court majors in a single season since 2016, when Germany’s Angelique Kerber took both the Australian Open and US Open titles.
