NEW YORK — Aryna Sabalenka got past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a rollicking US Open women’s final Saturday to win her first championship at Flushing Meadows and third Grand Slam title of her career.
Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, adds this trophy to the two she earned at the Australian Open each of the past two seasons, also on hard courts. She is the fifth different woman to win the Australian Open and US Open in the same year since 1988, when the Australian major switched to hard court.
The victory allowed her to leave Arthur Ashe Stadium in a far better mood than when she was the runner-up to Coco Gauff at the 2023 US Open. She is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2012 to win the US Open after losing in the final the previous year.
“I’m speechless right now,” Sabalenka, who had reached at least the semifinal stage at Flushing Meadows each of the past four years, said during the on-court trophy presentation. “So many times I thought I was so close … finally I get this beautiful trophy.”
Pegula, a 30-year-old native New Yorker whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, was appearing in the first Grand Slam final of her career. She had been 0-6 in major quarterfinals until eliminating No. 1 Iga Swiatek in that round on Wednesday.
“I wish she would’ve at least let me get one set,” Pegula said with a laugh. “I knew it was gonna be challenging and tough. … She can take the racket out of your hand a lot of times. I was happy I was able to fight back and give myself a chance, but in the end it wasn’t enough.”
Pegula has won 15 of her past 17 matches over the past month, but both losses came against Sabalenka in tournament finals.
“It’s been an incredible month for me,” Pegula said. “I had a rough start to the year but was really able to turn it around. To be able to be standing here in my first Grand Slam final, and then coming off such a hot summer, I mean, I didn’t expect it. I’m just really grateful for the last few weeks of tennis and some incredible matches I’ve been able to put together.”
The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka appeared in full control when she reeled off five consecutive games to grab the opening set and move ahead 3-0 in the second, before the No. 6 Pegula made things more interesting. In the next game, Pegula dropped a point and showed her frustration by whacking a ball off the video wall behind the baseline, dislodging a little square panel.
Maybe that released some tension for the 30-year-old American, because suddenly Pegula asserted herself, manufacturing her own five-game run. But when she served at 5-4 with a chance to force a third set, Pegula let Sabalenka level the second with a break.
That was part of a three-game, match-ending surge for Sabalenka, who soon was collapsing to the court, dropping her racket and covering her face with both arms while lying on her back.
Once Sabalenka got going, once her booming strokes — her forehands are the fastest these past two weeks, speedier than any woman’s or man’s — were calibrated just so, it quickly became apparent the outcome would be determined by what she did.
By the close, the statistics made that obvious: Sabalenka finished with far more winners than Pegula, 40-17, and also more unforced errors, 34-22. Sabalenka controlled most exchanges — winning 12 of the 15 rallies lasting 9 or more shots — with Pegula mainly stuck responding as best she could.
Sabalenka concludes the Grand Slam calendar having won 37 of the 40 sets she has played in majors this season (92.5%) — the highest percentage of sets won in majors by any woman in a year since Justine Henin (92.9%) in 2007 (min. 30 sets played).
The title match was played with the roof closed at Arthur Ashe Stadium after rain fell earlier Saturday. Among the crowd were Stephen Curry, Noah Lyles, Lewis Hamilton, Tina Fey, Anna Wintour and Andy Roddick, the last American man to win a major.
ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.