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NEW YORK — Aryna Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula in the U.S. Open final at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center 7-5, 7-5 on Saturday.
The No. 2 seed prevailed over the No. 6 seed in a tight, edgy match full of momentum swings and key moments. Pegula put Sabalenka under serious return pressure, but the Belarusian came through that — and the scar tissue of last year’s defeat to Coco Gauff on Arthur Ashe Stadium — to take the match and the title.
It is Sabalenka’s first U.S. Open title, and her third Grand Slam title overall. She is the only women’s player to hold two Grand Slam titles simultaneously this year, having won the Australian Open in January.
The Athletic’s writers, Charlie Eccleshare and Matt Futterman, analyze the final and what it means for tennis.
How did Pegula’s returning frazzle her opponent — until it didn’t?
Going into the match, two of Sabalenka’s main concerns were a hostile crowd and Pegula’s ability to hustle and get returns back into play.
In the first set, these two fears combined. Pegula produced an extremely effective returning performance, and the crowd feasted on it as she played on its energy. The combination seriously unsettled Sabalenka, and led the Belarusian from 5-2 up, to narrowly avoiding being 5-6 down.
Pegula had returned well all match — breaking in the third game — by the time Sabalenka came out to serve for the set at 5-3. The American No. 6 seed wasn’t just returning serves that would have won the point for Sabalenka against pretty much any other player; she was returning them well, with height and spin to the back of the court, forcing Sabalenka to overpress on her first strikes.
Eventually the pressure paid, helped by a crowd that rose from a murmur to a roar whenever Pegula forced a break point: First when the previous point was over, and then again when Sabalenka stepped up to the line. The serve +1 is one of Sabalenka’s biggest weapons, but having to hit so many was clearly affecting her.
She double-faulted, and then missed a couple of +1 shots to hand over the break. In the first set, 11 of the 23 (48 per cent) of the service points Sabalenka lost were +1 shots.
Jessica Pegula was able to force first-strike errors off Aryna Sabalenka’s serve. (Luke Hales / Getty Images)
In her next service game, at 5-5, Sabalenka double-faulted twice more, slamming her racket four times after the first one, and landing the second serve close to the baseline on the second.
On both occasions, the crowd went wild. A break for Pegula here would have left her serving for the set, and might have sent Sabalenka spiralling, as happened in last year’s final against an American player. Instead, Sabalenka dug out the hold, and her reaction underlined what an important moment this was.
Pegula lost the set 7-5 in the next game, but had given herself an excellent chance of winning it, returning so well that she chipped away at all of her opponent’s insecurities, which would come to the fore in the second set.
Charlie Eccleshare
Sabalenka gets through scar tissue from 2023
Sabalenka may very well trademark “Not this time.”
Last year when the the Coco Gauff train started running downhill, Sabalenka was powerless to stop it, and Gauff didn’t buckle at all.
Pegula will probably have some sleepless nights over the 10th game of the second set, after pretty much everything had gone sideways for Sabalenka for more than a half hour.
Pegula, who had been a point from a 0-4 deficit, was serving for the second set at 5-4, having played stellar tennis to win five of the previous six games.
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“Not this time.”
Suddenly Pegula’s strokes lost a bit of steam and Sabalenka seized the moment. She flicked a backhand volley to get the pressure going for 0-30. Then she watched Pegula make the backhand error on a rally ball, instead of her. Then the dagger – a winner down the line for 5-5.
She didn’t lose another game.
A tale of two reactions for Sabalenka?
Managing her emotions after last year was always going to be key in this match, and a couple of Sabalenka reactions to forehand winners told a story of how even within this contest, she had to go on a journey. Early in the first set, Pegula had a point on her serve for 2-2, which Sabalenka won with a ripped forehand crosscourt that flew past her opponent. She let out a roar of celebration, venting the frustration of having lost her serve in the previous game and feeling as though she hadn’t fully settled.
Aryna Sabalenka hit a scorching forehand winner to avoid going 1-3 down to Jessica Pegula. (Timothy A. Clary / AFP via Getty Images)Towards the end of the second, Sabalenka sealed another break with a forehand winner — this one down the line, and this one even more crucial. It won her the game at 5-4, Pegula serving to take the match into a third set. This time there was no big reaction from Sabalenka, who instead walked back to the line and prepared to serve in the next game.The roar was what was needed early on to get her going; now she needed to calm herself down and focus. Given the circumstances, this was an exceptionally mature emotional performance from Sabalenka.
Charlie Eccleshare
What did Aryna Sabalenka say after the final?
We’ll bring your their on-court quotes and press conference reflections as they come in.
What did Jessica Pegula say after the final?
On-court:
“It’s been an incredible month to be able to be standing here in my first Grand Slam final,” the American said.
“I wish you would have at least let me get one set,” she said to Sabalenka.
Recommended reading
(Top photo: Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)
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Courtesy : https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5752164/2024/09/07/sabalenka-pegula-us-open-final-result-analysis/