Aryna Sabalenka needs one more victory to join Chris Evert and Serena Williams as the only women to win three consecutive US Open titles. The top seed defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday, advancing to Saturday’s final against Elena Rybakina and stretching her winning run at Flushing Meadows to 19 matches.
The Story in Pictures
Sabalenka imposed pace and power across the match, finishing with 29 winners to Pegula’s 12 and never surrendering serve. She converted a tight opening set by raising her intensity at 5-6, winning a string of long exchanges and closing the set on her second opportunity after 43 minutes. The second set belonged to her from the outset; she attacked Pegula’s second serve, broke on her fourth chance and consolidated for a 4-1 lead before closing out the match.
Pegula explicitly acknowledged the difference in level. “I don’t know who pissed her off today,” she said. “Hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but might have been. I don’t know. She played insane. She played a super-high level. Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today.” Pegula also flagged a specific weakness, winning only five of 19 points on her second serve and calling the day “rough.”
Sabalenka reflected on her choices and on lessons from recent meetings. “I felt like whatever decision I would make, it is the right decision,” she said. “So I would definitely say that against Jess probably today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely the better level from me.” She said a loss to Pegula on grass in Berlin this summer sharpened her focus and convinced her she had to maintain concentration from start to finish.
The semi-final unfolded before a near-capacity crowd of more than 20,000 and completed an unusual seeding outcome: it marked the first time the top four women’s seeds reached the US Open semi-finals since 1975, and the first such occurrence at any grand slam since Wimbledon in 2009. Sabalenka’s path to this point included straight-set wins over Camila Osorio, Polina Iatcenko, Kamilla Rakhimova and Taylor Townsend, plus a gruelling quarter-final victory over Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 after 2 hours 22 minutes.
Saturday’s final against Elena Rybakina now decides whether Sabalenka secures a third straight US Open crown. The match will settle whether her current form and serving consistency are enough to complete the rare successive-title feat at Flushing Meadows.
