Aryna Sabalenka clinched the US Open title with a thrilling straight sets victory over Jessica Pegula. (More Tennis News)
A remarkable encounter swung one way💜 and then the other at Flushing Meadows, before Sabalenka - who lost to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final - finally prevailed 7-7 7-5 in just under two hours on Saturday.
The Australian Open champion won her third major title at the culmination of an extraordinary comeback in the second set, after Pegula had won💎 five consecutive matches to claw back from the brink herself.
Backed on by a partisan crowd, Pegula wasted little time in unsettling Sabalenka, taking the first two points on the Belarusian's serve and, despite the world number two f﷽ighting back, it was the American who clinched the first break in game tཧhree.
Yet S♛abalenka responded with force, breaking twice iಌn succession to storm into a 4-2 lead.
Pegula scrapped back with another break, and after saving four set points, clawed herself witꦗhin one shot of taking the lead.
A stunning Sabalenka volley forced deuce, though, and a double-fault from Pegula suggest🐎ed the pressure was starting to show.
Sabalenka firml🎉y reset as she cruised into a 3-0 lead in set two, but a strong hold of serve saw Pegula get on the board.
Unforced errors handed Pegula a reprieve, which she duly took, and the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium were on their feet w🔯hen the sixth seed held her nerve 🔯to restore parity in the next game.
The jubilation only continued as Sabalenka slipped up again for Pegula to complete the turnaround, b🍬efore thwarting a fightback from her opponent to win a fifth game on the spin.
But against the odds, Sabalenka hit back ferociously, reeling off two games to turn the tables yet again. A first championship point went begging when the second♔ set clipped the net, but when Pegula returned long from a venomous volley, Sabalenka's triumph was confirmed.
Second time lucky
It was heartbreak for Sabalen🍎ka at Flushing Meadows last season, but after skipping the Olympics to prepare for the hard-court swing, she has proven a worthy champion in New York this time around.
This final featured the two plaꦡyers who have dominated this season's N🥃orth American swing, but Sabalenka ultimately had too much for world number six Pegula.
Sabalenka is the sixth defending runner-up to win the US Open women's singles title in the Open Era, after Evert (19🍌80), Navratilova (1986), Graf (1988 and 1995), Henin (2007) and Serena Williams (2002 and 2012).
She is 🌠the fifth female, meanwhile, in the Open Era to win two major titles on hard court in the same season after Graf (1988 and 1989), Seles (1991 and 1992), Hingis (199🌱7) and Kerber (2016).
H💫owever, she is the first💙 player to finish the season with the most grand slam match wins (18, level with Jasmine Paolini this year) for successive years since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.
Iga Swiatek i🍸s understandably the leading light of women's tennis, but Sabalenka is truly worth her place alongside the Pole as a modern great൩.
Pegula no pushover
Midway through set two, Pegula looked down and out 3-0 down, yet the powers of recovery she displayed suggests that a maiden major title is within touching distance for the 30-year-old𝓡, wh🤪o was competing in her first grand slam final. She is only the third player to do so after turning 30.
She is the fourth player in the Open Era to ꦅreach singles finals at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and the US Open in t🍬he same year.
Pegula is one of just five players in the past decade to defeat three former grand slam&ꦏnbsp;finalists en route to the US Open final. Each of the previous four went on to win the event – Flavi♕a Pennetta (2015), Angelique Kerber (2016), Sloane Stephens (2017) and Gauff (2023).
While that was not to be the case for Pegula this time around, there is nothing to say she cannot c⛄ome back stronger next year, just like Sabalenka.
