Aryna Sabalenka again had Jessica Pegula’s number on Arthur Ashe Stadium, defeating the American No. 1 in straight sets to reach her fourth consecutive US Open final and keep her bid for a three-peat alive.
It’s the third straight year Sabalenka has beaten Pegula in New York, this time earning a 7-5, 6-2 victory in 1 hour and 20 minutes. She improved to 10-4 against Pegula in WTA Tour Driven by Mercedes-Benz play.
US Open: Scores | Order of play | Draws
“I was super desperate. I lost a tough match on grass against Jess, and I wasn’t really performing well in the middle part of the season,” Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference. “It kind of feels like for me, talking about Grand Slams, like a last push for the season. I wanted badly to go to the final, and of course I want to go all the way.
“The mentality was just, ‘I’m ready. I’m ready for whatever it’s going to take to get the win.'”
With the win, Sabalenka becomes the first player in the Open Era to reach eight consecutive Grand Slam hard-court finals, surpassing the seven in a row achieved by Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Novak Djokovic. She is also the sixth woman in the Open Era to reach four or more straight US Open singles finals, joining Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Graf and Serena Williams.
It marks Sabalenka’s ninth Grand Slam final overall. Her opponent will be No. 2 seed Elena Rybakina, whom she has faced twice in Major finals. Sabalenka beat her in the 2023 Australian Open final and lost in three sets in Melbourne earlier this year.
Entering the final in peak form
For someone who lost rather convincingly in a Grand Slam semifinal, Pegula was largely positive in her post-match presser. She chalked it up to Sabalenka playing her best tennis in months.
“That’s definitely — you can ask her — the best match she’s played this year. I thought her level was insanely high,” Pegula said. “Maybe she felt a little bit off at the beginning, but I feel like we were both playing well, serving well. I don’t know who pissed her off today… hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but it might’ve been.
“I don’t know. She played insane. She played at a super high level. Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today.”
The first 10 games were tight. They traded holds and generated just one break point each until 5-5. But after Sabalenka held for 6-5, she ripped a backhand a few points later that Pegula couldn’t handle, breaking to take the opening set.
The second set told a different story.
Sabalenka converted her fourth break point with a forehand return winner off Pegula’s second serve to go up 3-1. Pegula’s struggles behind her second serve loomed large — she won just 5 of 19 (26%) of her second-serve points.
Sabalenka, meanwhile, faced only one break point all night and broke again a few games later to close out a commanding win.
“I think this season — especially at the beginning — I played a lot of incredible matches at a really high level,” Sabalenka said. “But today I really performed well. I felt like whatever decision I would make, it was the right decision. So I would definitely say that against Jess today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely a better level from me.”
Should Sabalenka carry that level into Saturday’s final, her chances of claiming a fifth Major title look strong.