Jessica Pegula may be an admirable, 30-something workaholic, but Aryna Sabalenka is a screeching, hammering force of nature.
That irresistible power, plus some acrobatic, nuanced shots, carried Sabalenka to a 7-5, 7-5 victory on Saturday, earning her a third major title and her first U.S. Open championship. America’s chances in this tournament now reside with Taylor Fritz, who faces his own longshot final Sunday against top-ranked Jannik Sinner.
“I was able to find some good tennis. Just wasn’t quite able to sustain it,” Pegula said. “She played some big tennis in some big moments. She’s super powerful, she goes for her shots, she’s not going to give you anything.”
It was a delightful battle, fought with real grit by Pegula. But from the very first ball, this match figured to be on the racket of Sabalenka — the same as it once was with Serena Williams. Sabalenka has the sort of power to overwhelm most opponents, as long as her serves and groundstrokes are landing inside the lines.
Those shots strayed long at times but went in just often enough in the pivotal moments, when Sabalenka produced a series of one-plus winners. Sabalenka ended up smacking 40 winners, to go along with 34 errors. Whenever Pegula’s first serve went on hiatus, the U.S. player did not stand a chance.
Pegula hung in there as long as possible with the Belarusian star, converting first serves early and mixing up shots. The American earned the first break of the match in the third game. Sabalenka got that break back immediately in the fourth game, settled down, fired 119 mph serves, and regained control. Serving for the first set in the ninth game, however, she imploded with four errors and a double fault, gifting Pegula the game and reigniting the partisan crowd.
“It was so loud when we walked out. I think with the roof being closed it felt even louder,” Pegula said. “It was a really cool atmosphere, really cool experience. Obviously, I was trying to at some point to take it all in and at the same time try and focus on the match in front of me.”
Pegula saved four set points on her own serve in the 12th game, then finally lost the set on a perfect backhand drop shot by Sabalenka.
Several times during the match, Pegula changed rackets, changed tactics, but nothing was working. When Sabalenka went up 3-0 in the second set, the result appeared a foregone conclusion. Pegula somehow engineered an illogical comeback, just as she had in the semifinal against Karolina Muchova.
Pegula went up a break in that second set, until Sabalenka pulled herself together and began delivering winners again. A final Pegula forehand carried long in the 12th game. Sabalenka dropped to the hardcourt, celebrating the title she lost so painfully to Coco Gauff in 2023.
“So many times, I thought I was so close,” Sabalenka said, before receiving her $3.6 million winner’s check. “Finally, I got this beautiful trophy. That second set, I was just praying. I’m just super proud of myself.”
Sabalenka takes great joy and pain from this sport. The tour is essentially her whole life, since she rarely returns to her Belarus homeland.
For Pegula, this may well prove to be her last, best chance at a major title. Pegula’s origin story is a far cry from that of the Williams sisters — her family is said to be worth more than $7 billion — yet it is fascinating in its own right. Pegula is actually a first-generation American, by way of a mother, Kim, who reportedly was abandoned at age five on the streets of Seoul.
Kim was adopted by an American family and eventually met her rich husband, Terry Pegula, while interviewing for a waitress job in upstate New York. So, there is an up-by-the-bootstrap element to Jessica’s tale, and it is clear that she has worked as hard as anybody on tour to reach this new pinnacle at the age of 30. Only Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova ever made a U.S. Open final at such an advanced moment in their tennis timeline, and it wasn’t their first.
Pegula’s game is not particularly telegenic. She wins matches not by pounding players, as Sabalenka does, or by out-finessing them. She wins by out-steadying them. She is also adept at changing tactics midstream. It is one of the reasons she fired her longtime coach, David Witt, at the start of 2024, despite their many successes together.
“I felt like I needed to take some chances,” she said this spring. “I’m 30. Not that being 30 is the end. But I think I just didn’t want to look back and be like, ‘Maybe I should have tried someone else, or tried something different.’”
Pegula had been a persistent, Top-10 player, but lost six Grand Slam quarterfinals from 2021 to 2023. She endured a much worse start in 2024 under new coaches Mark Knowles and Mark Merklein, then picked up steam in the summer, hardcourt season.
“Beginning of the year I would say I was burnt out,” she said, after the loss. “Then I think coming into this swing I do feel fresher. I think by usually U.S. Open I’m like everything is kind of falling apart. A lot of girls are like that. I feel like the doctors and the physios are very busy here.”
Her march to this final included knocking off No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who admittedly has not looked comfortable lately on any surface other than clay. Sabalenka was different. Hardcourts are her favorite. She has already won two Australian Opens. She was on an 11-win streak and had beaten Pegula in straight sets three weeks earlier, at Cincinnati.
“Everyone is like, ‘Congrats, amazing tournament,’” Pegula said. “I’m like, ‘Eh, whatever.’ [But] If I can’t take confidence from this, there’s got to be something wrong.”
Pegula called this whole tournament “a dream come true.”
A title would have been even dreamier, but there was a jackhammer on the other side of the net.