Aryna Sabalenka wins US Open, third slam in dominant fashion over American Jessica Pegula

With all the pressure on the line for Aryna Sabalenka, in her second U.S. Open final, Aryna Sabalenka made capitalized on her opportunity and clinched her first title win at Flushing Meadows. It was a tough three-set loss to Coco Gauf last year. This time, in two commanding sets, it was Sabalenka’s turn to hold the U.S. Open trophy.

“So many times, I thought I was so close to get a U.S. Open title,” said Sabalenka, according to NBC Sports. “It’s always been a dream of mine. Finally, I got this beautiful trophy.”

But it certainly wasn’t for want of trying on Jessica Pegula’s part, a New York native who had plenty of crowd support on her side. She broke Sabalenka early on in the first set and certainly gave plenty of fight in the second, breaking the Belarusian once again. But she couldn’t hold off the bounce back from Sabalenka, who boke right back and handled the partisan crowd with grace and aplomb.

“I wish she would have at least let me get one set,” joked Pegula, who lost ger second final in a row to the 26-year-old Belarussian. “She can take the racket out of your hands a lot of times.”

Aryna Sabalenka wins US Open, dominates Jessica Pegula

With championship point on the line in the second set, Sabalenka fell to the ground in triumph. With her back-to-back Australian Open grand slam titles, she is the first to sweep the hard courts since 2016, when Angelique Kerber did the same.

World No. 2 Sabalenka is one of the hardest hitting players out there, among men and women, and she put all that prowess on display during the final, and leading up to the penultimate moment of the tournament.

The pro-American, once again was pulling for Pegula, who will move up from sixth to WTA Ranking No. 3 as of Monday.

The 30-year-old Pegula is sure to make another grand slam final again.