Aryna Sabalenka battled past a hard-nosed Jessica Pegula to clinch her maiden US Open title after crushing disappointment to Coco Gauff 12 months ago.
Throughout Aryna Sabalenka’s time at the top of the WTA, her most dangerous opponent has often been herself.
After suffering a collapse in last year’s US Open final, the resilience demonstrated this year has cemented her status as a class above the rest.
A tight opening set saw an early exchange of breaks, with Jessica Pegula fighting back to 5-5. With some ruthless hitting, the Belarusian closed the opener 7-5, before keeping her foot on the accelerator to race to a 3-0 lead in the second.
The American, who’s made a habit of forcing her way back into matches, did exactly that as she won five games on the bounce as the final took another turn.
Battling away the haunting memories of last year’s collapse, Sabalenka closed out the second set 7-5 to dispel any chance of another wobble.
Aryna Sabalenka explains what Jessica Pegula did that she ‘didn’t expect’ in the US Open final
With the disappointment of 12 months ago sufficiently faded, Sabalenka has proved an indomitable force on the hard courts.
With such power and precision, she was unplayable at times throughout both the final and the tournament.
Quick to praise the efforts of her opponent, Sabalenka explained how unexpected she felt Pegula’s comeback was.
“It was a very tough match, she played an incredible tennis,” the world number two told reporters as she perched beside the trophy.
“Honestly, I didn’t expect her to reach such a high level when I started leading 3-0. I am very happy I managed to hold my serve at 3-5 down, to break back later.
“That gave me a lot of confidence to close out the match in two sets. Just before that, I was almost preparing for a third set. I am very happy with the victory.”
Can Aryna Sabalenka overtake Iga Swiatek as world number one?
Sabalenka was defending 1300 points with her second-placed finish last year, meaning the 2000 points on offer for a major victory, only sees her gain 700 points to move to a total of 8716.
Iga Swiatek remains the world number one by 2169 points despite her quarter-final exit.
Having accrued a healthy lead ahead of the US Open, Swiatek was the first to qualify for the WTA finals – a year-ending event hosted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
The pressure will be on the Pole during the final few months of the WTA Tour campaign.
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