"So many times I was so close," Aryna Sabalenka said after her rollicking US Open victory on Saturday in New York, "and it's always been a dream of mine." Her frustration, which included a finals loss a year ago after leading Coco Gauff, ended with her first championship at Flushing Meadows, a 7-5, 7-5 win over New Yorker Jessica Pegula. It's the third Grand Slam title of Sabalenka's career; the 26-year-old from Belarus has won the past two Australian Opens, a tournament also played on hard courts, per the AP.
It was the first major final for Pegula, who has won 15 of her past 17 matches, though both losses were to Sabalenka in finals. Sabalenka, who was seeded second, appeared in full control when she reeled off five consecutive games to grab the opening set and move ahead 3-0 in the second, before the No. 6 Pegula made things more interesting. In the next game, Pegula dropped a point and showed her frustration by whacking a ball off the video wall behind the baseline, dislodging a little square panel. Maybe that released tension for the 30-year-old American, because suddenly Pegula asserted herself, using her own five-game run. But when she served at 5-4 with a chance to force a third set, Pegula let Sabalenka level the second with a break, per the AP.
That was part of a three-game, match-ending surge for Sabalenka, who soon was collapsing to the court, dropping her racket and covering her face with both arms while lying on her back. Sabalenka finished with far more winners than Pegula, 40-17, and also more unforced errors, 34-22. Sabalenka controlled most exchanges, with Pegula mainly stuck responding as best she could. This year, Sabalenka held onto her lead. "I wish she would have let me get one set," Pegula said afterward, per the Guardian.
(More
US Open Tennis stories.)
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
