Aryna Sabalenka won her first US Open title as she put the regret of last year\u2019s final behind her to hold off home hope Jessica Pegula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sabalenka was seen smashing her racquet on the floor of the locker room after losing the Flushing Meadows showpiece to Coco Gauff in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, 12 months on, the Belarusian second seed earned redemption in New York, dropping to the floor in celebration after settling a thrilling 7-5 7-5 win over Pegula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is a third Grand Slam singles trophy for Sabalenka after she successfully protected her Australian Open title in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It also continues her supremacy on hard courts, with the win over Pegula extending Sabalenka\u2019s unbeaten run on the surface at major tournaments to 14 matches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m speechless right now. It\u2019s always been a dream of mine and finally I got this beautiful trophy,\u201d Sabalenka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 26-year-old ran up to her player\u2019s box to celebrate the victory, hugging her team and jokingly slapping the head of her strength and conditioning coach Jason Stacy, who had a replica of Sabalenka\u2019s tiger tattoo printed on the area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re really working hard sacrificing everything for your dream, you\u2019re going to get it one day,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m just super proud of myself. I never say that but I\u2019m super proud of myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m super proud of my team that no matter what, we were able to go through it and get all those beautiful trophies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For sixth seed Pegula, the wait for a first major title goes on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Playing in a first Grand Slam singles final, the 30-year-old was buoyed by a partisan crowd on Arthur Ashe Stadium and made a late flow to halt Sabalenka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But Sabalenka fought back from a 5-3 second-set deficit before wrapping up victory in one hour and 53 minutes to claim 2,000 ranking points and $3.6m (\u00a33.04m) in prize money.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Aryna Sabalenka won her first US Open title as she put the regret of last year\u2019s final behind her to hold off home hope Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka was seen smashing her racquet on the floor of the locker room after losing the Flushing Meadows showpiece to Coco Gauff in 2023. However, 12 months on, the…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":7494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[991,73,134],"class_list":["post-7493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-aryna-sabalenka","tag-slsports","tag-sports-news"],"yoast_head":"\n