No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka won her third Grand Slam singles title, but first in New York City, as she defeated American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5 to win the US Open title.
Leading 3-0 in the second set, Sabalenka found herself needing to fend off the furious comeback bid of Pegula, who won five straight games to threaten a third set. But Sabalenka snapped back with four consecutive games of her own to win her first US Open singles trophy.
With the win, Sabalenka becomes the first woman since 2016 to claim both hard-court majors in one season, a feat achieved by Germany's Angelique Kerber when she won both the Australian Open and US Open titles.
With the title, Sabalenka can also be crowned the queen of the hard courts. Her previous two major titles were won on Australian Open cement, in January this year and in 2023.
Outside of the majors, 11 of 13 of Sabalenka's titles have come on hard courts. The No. 2 seed is on a 12-match hard-court win streak, having taken the Cincinnati Open two weeks ago—beating Pegula in the final there.
Sabalenka will stay world No. 2 and, despite falling here in the quarters, Iga Swiatek will stay at No.1.
While Pegula could not claim the trophy, she will earn a new career-high WTA ranking on the heels of her best major run. Come Monday, the American will move up three places to No. 3 in the world.
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