Aryna Sabalenka defeats American hopeful Jessica Pegula to win the US Open title in New York City
Aryna Sabalenka won her third Grand Slam singles title in New York City on Saturday, defeating American Jessica Pegula in straight sets (7-5, 7-5) to secure the US Open title.
Sabalenka, 26, has won three major tournaments in the last 20 months, having won two consecutive Australian Opens in 2023 and this year.
Raising the Tiffany-designed trophy in Flushing was a joyful conclusion to Sabalenka’s turbulent and emotionally exhausting 2024 season.
Two months after winning her second consecutive Australian Open title, Sabalenka’s former boyfriend and former NHL player Konstantin Koltsov committed suicide near Miami.
Immediately after his death, Koltsov was identified as Sabalenka’s boyfriend, but the tennis player later revealed that the couple had quietly separated before his death.
Illness and injuries played a role in Sabalenka’s elimination from this year’s French Open, the Berlin Ladies Open and Wimbledon.
Sabalenka, who is from Minsk, Belarus, played this year without a country that can bear her name.
While everyone else has the flag of their homeland next to their name on the official lists, Sabalenka’s name remains empty because Minsk continues to support Russia’s unprovoked invasion of neighboring Ukraine.
The victory of world number two Sabalenka on Saturday prevented Pegula from winning her first Grand Slam title.
Sabalenka overwhelmed the American, who did her best to keep up by playing above her normal pace. Pegula managed a five-game winning streak, but it wasn’t enough.
It was the first Grand Slam final for the 30-year-old Pegula, whose family owns the Buffalo Bills football team and the Sabres ice hockey team. She had previously reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon (2023) as well as the French Open (2022) and Australian Open (2021-23).
Pegula reached the title match about 48 hours after defeating her Czech opponent Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals.
Pegula’s father is 73-year-old energy billionaire Terry Pegula, who has an estimated net worth of $7.7 billion and is the 403rd richest man in the world, according to Forbes.
Despite her family’s enormous wealth, Pegula won her fans in New York City by insisting on taking the subway from Manhattan to the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Queens.
This is a developing story, please check back later for updates.
Madelyn Urabe contributed.
