Aryna Sabalenka powered past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 on Arthur Ashe Stadium to book a fourth successive US Open final, extending her New York mastery of the American and keeping her three-title run in sight.
Sabalenka storms into fourth straight US Open final
SEO title: Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula to reach US Open final
SEO description: Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the US Open semifinals to set up a championship match with Elena Rybakina.
Quick facts
- Result: Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2.
- Match time: 1 hour, 20 minutes on the hard courts of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
- Head-to-head: Sabalenka moved ahead 10-4 against Pegula in WTA Tour competition.
- Final: Sabalenka will face second seed Elena Rybakina on Saturday.
- Milestone: Sabalenka is the first player in the Open Era to make eight consecutive Grand Slam hard-court finals.
The victory was Sabalenka’s third straight win over Pegula at the US Open, following previous New York victories over the home favourite in the past two seasons. It also sends the defending champion into her ninth major singles final.
Sabalenka had arrived in the semifinal determined to respond after a difficult stretch in the middle of the season, including a grass-court defeat to Pegula. “I was desperate,” she said, describing the US Open as her final major push of the year. “I was ready for whatever it would take to win.”
The opening set was played on narrow margins. Each woman held through the first 10 games, with only one break opportunity apiece before the score reached 5-5.
Sabalenka held serve for 6-5, then stepped in to strike a forceful backhand that Pegula could not control during the next game. The break gave the top player the set and shifted the semifinal decisively.
The second set quickly became one-way traffic. Sabalenka finally converted her fourth break point for a 3-1 lead, cracking a forehand return winner against Pegula’s second serve.
Pegula won only five of 19 points behind her second delivery, a 26 per cent return that left her exposed against Sabalenka’s aggressive returning. Sabalenka faced just one break point across the match and added another break before sealing the straight-sets win.
Pegula, the American No. 1, said she had encountered an exceptional version of her opponent. She felt both players had started sharply and served well, but said Sabalenka’s level rose to an extraordinary standard and left little room to alter the outcome.
Sabalenka agreed that her decision-making had clicked. She said she had produced several high-level matches earlier in the season, but felt that nearly every choice on court against Pegula worked in her favour.
The final brings a familiar major-rivalry matchup with Rybakina. Sabalenka defeated the Kazakh in the 2023 Australian Open final, while Rybakina won their three-set Melbourne championship meeting earlier this year.
By reaching another hard-court major final, Sabalenka surpassed Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Novak Djokovic, who each reached seven in succession in the Open Era. She is also the sixth woman to reach at least four consecutive US Open singles finals, after Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Graf and Serena Williams.
