US Open 2024 tennis: Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula to clinch women's singles title
Sabalenka defeated home favourite Pegula in two close sets to capture her second Grand Slam crown of the year and her third in total.
Tennis
Aryna Sabalenka ground out a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Jessica Pegula to finally get her hands on the US Open title on Saturday (7 September).
The world number two captured her third career Grand Slam in the process, adding to her 2023 and 2024 Australian Open crowns. She is just the fifth woman in the Open era to win the US Open and Australian Open in the same year.
Winning the final point, Sabalenka dropped to the blue court before blowing kisses at the crowd inside Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Sabalenka, who came into the contest as the favourite, seemed to be battling the demons from her 2023 final defeat to Coco Gauff at Flushing Meadows as she squandered a 5-2 lead in the first set. That was after Pegula had achieved the first break of serve in the match.
The 26-year-old served four double faults and made numerous unforced errors as Pegula fought back to level at 5-5. She soon regained her form, however, and withstood gritty resistance from her American opponent to take the next two games and clinch the first set.
Sabalenka raced into a 3-0 lead in the second set but then allowed Pegula back into the match. Making her first Grand Slam final appearance aged 30, the sixth seed roared back to reel off the next five games in succession.
But Pegula was unable to close out the set as Sabalenka once more managed to rediscover her touch. Sabalenka won four games in a row to secure her first Slam outside Australia and close the gap in the world rankings to Iga Swiatek.