Aryna Sabalenka yearned to win the U.S. Open women’s singles championship. She came ever so close last year but was bested in the finals by a tour de force carried out by Coco Gauff. This year, she was determined not to be denied.
On Saturday at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens, the women’s world No. 2 seed from Belarus outplayed the No. 3 seed, American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5 to attain her goal.
“Finally I got this beautiful trophy,” said Sabalenka, clutching the silver cup. “Oh my God, I’m speechless right now because as you said so many times I thought I was so close to getting the U.S. Open title. It was always a dream of mine…”
On her journey to the U.S. Open finals, Sabalenka dropped just one set, in the third round to Russia’s Ekaterina Alexandrova (2-6, 6-1, 6-2). The U.S. Open was the 26-year-old Sabalenka’s third Grand Slam singles title, adding it to her 2023 and 2024 Australian Open wins. As for the 30-year-old Pegula, this year’s U.S. Open was the first time she made it past the quarter-finals in a Grand Slam.
In the quarter-finals, she defeated the world’s No. 1, Poland’s Iga Swiatek, 6-2 ,6-4 , and in the semifinals Pegula took down Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. In an interview on the court following her loss to Sabalenka, Pegula reflected on her path to finals.
“It has been an incredible month for me really, I had a rough start to the year but really able to turn it around,” she said. “I was able to fight back and give myself a chance, but it wasn’t enough. I’m glad I was able to say I gave myself opportunities.”
She then jokingly said of her opponent, “I wish she would have let me win one set.” Pegula, whose parents, Terry and Kim Pegula, are the principal owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills, thanked her family and the fans for supporting her. The Buffalo native, who now lives in Boca Raton, Florida, endeared herself to everyday New Yorkers by taking the subway to her matches, being recorded and photographed on trains and platforms carrying her large tennis bag over her shoulder.