New York [US], September 11 (ANI): Aryna Sabalenka continued her dominance over Jessica Pegula at the US Open, defeating the American in straight sets to reach her fourth consecutive final in New York and keep her bid for a third successive title alive.
According to the WTA website, the top seed prevailed 7-5, 6-2 in one hour and 20 minutes at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday (local time), extending her head-to-head advantage over Pegula to 10-4 on the WTA Tour.
It was also Sabalenka's third consecutive victory over Pegula at the US Open, as the Belarusian delivered one of her most commanding performances of the season to book a title clash against Elena Rybakina.
"I was super desperate. I lost a tough match on grass against Jess, and I wasn't really performing well in the middle part of the season," Sabalenka said in her post-match press conference, as per the WTA website.
She added, "It kind of feels like for me, talking about Grand Slams, like a last push for the season. I wanted badly to go to the final, and of course I want to go all the way. The mentality was just, 'I'm ready. I'm ready for whatever it's going to take to get the win.'"
The opening set was closely contested, with both players holding serve through the first 10 games and creating just one break-point opportunity each. The momentum shifted at 5-5 when Sabalenka held serve to move ahead before producing a powerful backhand to break Pegula and take the set 7-5.
Sabalenka took greater control in the second set. She converted her fourth break point with a forehand return winner off Pegula's second serve to open up a 3-1 lead.
Pegula struggled behind her second serve, winning just five of 19 points, while Sabalenka remained largely untroubled on her own delivery, facing only one break point throughout the match. The top seed secured another break before closing out the contest 6-2.
"I think this season -- especially at the beginning -- I played a lot of incredible matches at a really high level," Sabalenka said.
"But today I really performed well. I felt like whatever decision I would make, it was the right decision. So I would definitely say that against Jess today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely a better level from me," she added.
Pegula, meanwhile, credited Sabalenka for producing an exceptional performance despite her straight-sets defeat.
"That's definitely -- you can ask her -- the best match she's played this year. I thought her level was insanely high," Pegula said, as per the WTA website.
"Maybe she felt a little bit off at the beginning, but I feel like we were both playing well, serving well. I don't know who pissed her off today... hopefully it wasn't me totally, but it might've been. I don't know. She played insane. She played at a super high level. Honestly, I don't really know if there was much I could do today," Pegula added.
The victory also saw Sabalenka create history. She became the first player in the Open Era to reach eight consecutive Grand Slam hard-court finals, surpassing the previous mark of seven shared by Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis and Novak Djokovic.
Sabalenka is also only the sixth woman in the Open Era to reach at least four consecutive US Open singles finals, joining Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Graf and Serena Williams.
The final will be Sabalenka's ninth Grand Slam title match overall, where she will face newly crowned World No. 1 Rybakina. The pair have previously met twice in Major finals, with Sabalenka winning the 2023 Australian Open final before losing to the Kazakh in a three-set Melbourne final earlier this year.
Rybakina reached her maiden US Open final after fighting back from a set down to defeat Coco Gauff in their semifinal. Sabalenka and Rybakina will now battle for the 2026 US Open women's singles title at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday. (ANI)
Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula to reach fourth straight US Open final
