Aryna Sabalenka Dominates in New York: US Open Final Awaits
Aryna Sabalenka is still the woman to beat in New York. The ranking will say otherwise on Monday, but the court told its own story on Thursday night.
The two-time defending US Open champion bulldozed past home favourite Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-2, extending her winning streak at Flushing Meadows to 20 matches and booking a fourth straight final in Queens.
She did it the Sabalenka way: angry, explosive, then utterly ruthless.
Frustration, then a gear change
For a while, the Arthur Ashe crowd dared to believe. Pegula settled first, seeing the ball early, striking it clean, drawing errors from a tense Sabalenka whose forehand leaked mistakes and whose body language screamed irritation.
The Belarusian stalked the baseline, muttering, swinging hard but missing lines. Pegula, 32 and still chasing that elusive first major, looked composed, prepared, and ready to lean on the memory of her Berlin win over Sabalenka in June.
But Sabalenka lives on the edge. Once she steadied her feet, the match flipped.
At 5-5 in the opening set, the four-time major singles winner finally locked in. The returns started coming back deeper, the first serve found its mark, and the rallies stopped being exchanges and became assaults. Pegula, who had matched her early, suddenly found herself reacting, not dictating.
Sabalenka struck at 6-5, breaking to seal the set with the kind of cold, heavy hitting that has defined her New York reign. The roar she let out was part release, part warning.
The contest never really recovered for Pegula.
Sabalenka takes control
Once the first set was in the bag, Sabalenka didn’t just raise her level; she tore away. The second set turned into a showcase of pure power and conviction.
Pegula looked stranded as Sabalenka began to hit through the court, pounding 29 winners to the American’s 12 over the match. The ball flew off her strings with a different sound, heavier, meaner. Pegula’s serve, solid early on, came under siege. Service games that had looked routine became survival missions.
Points grew shorter. Sabalenka stepped inside the baseline, flattened out her groundstrokes, and ripped through return games. The American’s hopes of finally solving her long-time rival at the US Open faded quickly on a night when the gap in firepower became brutally clear.
By the time Sabalenka closed out the 6-2 second set, Pegula could only watch another New York campaign end at the hands of the same opponent who denied her in last year’s semi-finals and in the 2024 final.
Chasing Serena and history
Sabalenka walked off with more than just another win. She now owns the Open era record for most consecutive Grand Slam hard-court finals, reaching every major final on the surface since the 2023 Australian Open.
She is also chasing a far bigger name.
No woman has won three straight US Open singles titles since Serena Williams. Only Serena and Chris Evert have managed that run in the Open era. Sabalenka now stands one match away from joining that club.
Her path to this point hasn’t been smooth. After a blistering start to the season that included the ‘Sunshine Double’ at Indian Wells and Miami, her form dipped. A quarter-final loss at Roland Garros, a fourth-round exit at Wimbledon, and a shaky build-up raised real questions about her ability to defend in New York.
Those doubts look distant now. She has dropped just one set all tournament and has not lost a match at Flushing Meadows since falling to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final.
“I was so desperate to win, I wanted it badly,” she admitted afterwards. “No complaints, I am super happy to pull out such good tennis.”
The desperation showed. So did the control.
A final with extra weight
There is one twist. Even as she storms into another US Open final, Sabalenka will lose the world number one ranking on Monday. Elena Rybakina, the Australian Open champion, will take over at the top.
Rybakina might also be the woman standing across the net from her in Saturday’s final. If not, it will be Gauff, the American fourth seed who denied Sabalenka here last year and still carries the hopes of a home crowd hungry for another homegrown champion.
Either way, Sabalenka knows what is at stake: a third straight US Open crown, a Grand Slam title to close the year, and a place in a conversation reserved for the sport’s most dominant hard-court champions.
Rankings can move. New number ones can rise.
Right now, on this court, in this city, Aryna Sabalenka still plays like the queen of New York.
