Aryna Sabalenka, ranked second in the world, defeated Jessica Pegula in an incredible 7-5, 7-5 victory to capture her first US Open championship.
This is her third Grand Slam victory in a year marked by emotional and personal struggles.
Aryna Sabalenka, who won her third Grand Slam championship after a year of personal suffering, dedicated her US Open victory to her family, saying they “never gave up on my dream”.
In addition to her back-to-back Australian Open victories, world number two Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to win her first-ever New York title. She only made it to the final eight at the French Open and was forced to miss Wimbledon due to injury, thus this US Open marked her first Grand Slam victory since the passing of her ex-boyfriend in March. Konstantin Koltsov, a former NHL standout, passed away at the age of 42 from what appears to have been suicide.
Sabalenka’s father Sergiy died at the age of 43 from meningitis five years ago. The 26-year-old Belarusian stated, “It has always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis after I lost my father.”
“I’m very proud of my family and myself every time I see my name on that trophy because they never gave up on my dream and did everything in their power to support me.
It truly means a lot to me because I had this chance in life. My dream has always been that.” In order to overcome Pegula, who was ranked sixth, Sabalenka used her trademark super-charged serve and vicious groundstrokes on Saturday.
Her 36 aces and 40 victories brought her tournament total to 205. With a serve speed of 191.5 km/h (119 mph), she boasted the third quickest time of the championship.
“I am aware that I must pursue it. For me, it can only be done that way,” Sabalenka remarked.
“Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands, so a long time ago I decided for myself in those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing.”
Pegula, the former world number three, had a turbulent year preceding her defeat on Saturday.
She had complained of burnout following the Australian Open, but a rib injury kept her off her game and she missed the European clay court swing, which included the French Open. She won the Berlin grass-court title to signal her comeback to competition.
“In Berlin I was super fresh and wanting to win these matches, and kind of fired up,” said Pegula.
Pegula lost in the second round of Wimbledon and the Olympics in Paris, but she stormed to the Toronto crown and defeated Sabalenka in Cincinnati. She won 15 of her 17 matches as the US summer hardcourt season came to an end.
Pegula Takes Confidence
It took Pegula six Grand Slam quarterfinal losses before she eventually advanced to the US Open title match this year. They lost four of the games to the eventual winners.
She lost to Iga Swiatek at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022, as well as to Asheigh Barty at the Australian Open. Marketa Vondrousova defeated her in the round of eight at Wimbledon the previous year, and the Czech went on to win the title.
She said on Saturday, “I lost again to a really good player today.”
“I was defeated by girls who virtually won the competition each and every time. I didn’t really anticipate to be playing this well in the hard court swing after a difficult start to the year, but I was able to kind of turn the tide.”
“I will take a lot of confidence from this.”