NEW YORK – Aryna Sabalenka moved away from winning her third straight US Open title with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Jessica Pegula on Thursday night.
Sabalenka broke out of a match that had been scoreless for much of the first set, pouncing on Pegula’s second serves to turn the second set into perhaps her most impressive stretch of tennis of the tournament.
“There are no complaints,” Sabalenko said. “I’m just super glad that I was able to achieve this kind of tennis.”
On Saturday, the No. 1 seed will face No. 2 Elena Rybakina or No. 4 Coco Gauff. They need a win to become the first player to win three straight at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams from 2012-2014.
Rybakina will replace Sabalenka at the top of the women’s tennis rankings next week and Sabalenka said she would be fine this week to relinquish the top spot after holding it for 99 straight weeks if she manages to win another US Open trophy.
It will be difficult to prevent that if she hits the ball like she did against Pegula on Saturday.
Sabalenka ran out 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, turning their third straight meeting at the end of the US Open into a rout after her victories in the 2024 final and 2025 semi-finals were largely tight.
“I wanted the win so desperately, I really wanted it,” Sabalenka said.
She has won 19 straight matches at the US Open since losing to Gauff in the 2023 final.