No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka captured her third Grand Slam singles title on Saturday, and her first in New York City, by holding off No.6 seed Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to win the 2024 US Open title.
US Open: Scores | Draw | Order of play
Under a closed Arthur Ashe Stadium roof on a stormy day, Sabalenka took 1 hour and 53 minutes to battle past American hope Pegula, who was contesting her first Grand Slam final, in two tight sets.
Former World No.1 Sabalenka led by a set and 3-0 before Pegula suddenly went on a five-game run and served for the second set at 5-3. Sabalenka weathered that storm to prevail and wrap up a straight-sets win. Sabalenka lost only one set en route to the title.
Sabalenka goes one further than she did last year, exorcising some demons in the process. She also led by a set in last year’s final before finishing as runner-up to another top American, Coco Gauff.
Hard-court confidence: Sabalenka has now firmly established herself as the current queen of the hard-court Grand Slam events. She has gone a nearly perfect 27-1 in the last four Slams on the surface, having also won the Australian Open last year and this year.
In a clash between this summer’s two-best hard-court players, it was Sabalenka who repeated her win over Pegula from the Cincinnati final three weeks ago. By backing up that title with a triumph in New York, Sabalenka is on a 12-match winning streak.
Sabalenka becomes the first player to win both hard-court Slams in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016. The only other women who won a pair of hard-court Slams in one calendar year during the Open Era are Stefanie Graf (1988, 1989), Monica Seles (1991, 1992) and Martina Hingis (1997).
More to come…
