Sabalenka, 'so close' before, finally wins US Open

NEW YORK — Moments after winning her third Grand Slam singles title, and first at the US Open, Aryna Sabalenka fell to the ground with her hands covering her face.

She had just defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in front of a partisan and star-studded crowd Saturday under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium.

It was a markedly different scene from a year ago, when Sabalenka squandered a one-set lead over Coco Gauff, another American, in the US Open final and walked away with the runner-up trophy. And even the two years before that, when she lost in the semifinal round in 2021 and 2022.

The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka, from Belarus, couldn’t help but acknowledge her past when addressing the crowd during the trophy ceremony.

“Oh, my God. I’m speechless right now,” Sabalenka, 26, said. “So many times, I thought I was so close to get a US Open title. It’s been a dream of mine. Finally, I got this beautiful trophy. It means a lot.”

Playing in her 100th career major match, Sabalenka became the sixth different woman to win the US Open after losing in the final the previous year, and first since Serena Williams in 2012.

She also moved into fourth place among active WTA players for the most Slam singles titles, behind only Venus Williams (7), Iga Swiatek (5) and Naomi Osaka (4).

Sabalenka needed to dig deep and raise her level during the match, which saw both players take control at various points. In the opening set, Sabalenka raced out to a 5-2 lead before Pegula found her rhythm and rattled off the next three games.

But once the set reached 5-all, it was Sabalenka who found her momentum. She won the next five games to win the set and take a 3-0 lead in the second.

But Pegula, who was playing in her first major final, wasn’t done fighting. The No. 6 seed went on a five-game run of her own, and a deciding set looked all but certain. But Pegula couldn’t quite finish the job. Serving at 5-4, she allowed Sabalenka to level the set with a break.

“I was kind of getting ready for the third set. [Thinking] at least like, ‘You’ll be confident on your serve in the third set,’ and then I held my serve. I put so much pressure on her [in] that serving game at 5-4, and I’m really glad I was able to break her back,” Sabalenka said.

From there, it was all Sabalenka. After 1 hour and 53 minutes, and having won 16 of the final 23 points, the trophy was Sabalenka’s at last.

“Was able to find some good tennis, just wasn’t quite able to sustain it,” Pegula said. “She played some big tennis in some big moments.”

It has been a season of highs and lows for Sabalenka. After winning her second consecutive Australian Open in January, personal tragedy struck when her former partner, Konstantin Koltsov, a retired professional hockey player, died in what was ruled an apparent suicide days ahead of the Miami Open. Sabalenka, in a statement, said her heart was “broken” by his death.

On the court, she reached the finals of the clay tournaments in Madrid and Rome, but struggled with a stomach virus at the French Open and lost in the quarterfinals. She was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury. While many of her peers played the Olympic singles tournament in Paris, Sabalenka — who could have participated as a neutral athlete since her native Belarus was banned because of the ongoing war in Ukraine — opted out, citing her need to prioritize her health during an already grueling season.

As players such as Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz admitted they struggled with fatigue and a lack of energy following Olympic medal runs and multiple surface changes, Sabalenka has had no such issues. She arrived in New York having won the 1000-level title in Cincinnati in her final tuneup event and now has a 16-2 record on the hard court this summer.

During an interview with ESPN after the final on Saturday, she said the competitive break had been vital to her recent success.

“I [kept] pushing myself and I guess I just got to the limit emotionally and physically and it was very important to kind of step back, just recharge,” Sabalenka said. “Just that little moment with myself really helped me to be more fresh and more ready and I felt like I was hungrier than ever in this summer.”

Sabalenka said it was the tough moments on and off the court that helped her get through the most crucial points on Saturday.

“[I was] trying to stay strong and trying to remind myself that I have been through a lot and I’m strong enough to hold under this pressure,” said Sabalenka, 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.

While Pegula, 30, admitted to being disappointed about the final result, she said she was “relatively speaking, happy” that she had continued to create chances for herself in the match, and was proud of her run throughout the tournament.

After reaching six previous major quarterfinals, she advanced to her first semifinal on Wednesday behind a staggering 6-2, 6-4 upset victory of Swiatek, the world No. 1. Some 24 hours later, she recovered from losing the opening set 6-1 to defeat Karolina Muchova in three sets to reach the final.

She had been looking to become the second-oldest first-time women’s major champion in the Open era and the first woman since 2006 to defeat the top two players at a single US Open. But it was not to be.

She couldn’t quite appreciate what she had accomplished moments after leaving the court but knew she probably would in the future.

“Everyone is like, ‘Congrats! Amazing tournament!’ and I’m like, ‘Eh, whatever.'” Pegula said. “I think maybe once I decompress a little bit, I’m sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that.”

Pegula, who won the Canadian Open last month and reached the final in Cincinnati, will move up to No. 3 when the new WTA rankings release Monday, matching her previous career high. Sabalenka remains at No. 2.

ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.