No. 6 Jessica Pegula is having her best Grand Slam run at 30 years old, but to earn her first major title she will have to get past world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka during the US Open final on Saturday. The match is set to start at 4 p.m. ET at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Pegula has struggled with multiple injuries through her career and even withdrew from this year’s French Open. This week, she admitted that making it this far never even crossed her mind.
“It’s amazing. It’s a childhood dream,” Pegula said. “If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals of the U.S. Open, I would have laughed so hard, because that just was where my head was — not thinking that I would be here.”
Pegula entered this tournament with a 0-6 record in quarterfinals, but she broke through this time around with a straight set victory against world No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Pegula then came out “flat” against Karolina Muchova during the semifinals, but she eventually found her rhythm and pulled off an impressive 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback win.
She has a lot of momentum coming into Saturday as she has won 15 of her last 16 matches, but coincidentally that lone loss was against Sabalenka in the Cincinnati Open title match in August. Sabalenka won that one 6-3, 7-5, which gave her a 5-2 advantage in their all-time series.
Where to watch Sabalenka vs. Pegula
- Date: Saturday, Sept. 7 | Time: 4 p.m. ET
- Location: Arthur Ashe Stadium — Queens, New York
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: fuboTV (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
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Pegula’s most recent win against Sabalenka happened during the first round of the 2023 WTA Finals. While the American knows Sabalenka is a tough opponent, she is going to try to use her recent loss to her in Cincinnati as motivation.
“Playing Aryna is going to be really tough,” Pegula on Thursday night. “She showed how tough she is and why she is probably the favorite to win this tournament. It will be a rematch of Cincinnati, so hopefully I can get some revenge out here.”
Pegula is a New York native and therefore she will likely have the crowd on her side — although Sabalenka, born in Belarus, did joke that she would bribe the crowd with free drinks.
But no matter who the fans cheer for, this is a place where Sabalenka feels very comfortable playing. She made it to the semifinals in 2021 and 2022, then became the runner-up in 2023 after struggling to beat Coco Gauff.
That loss to Gauff actually makes Sabalenka more dangerous because she said it is motivating her to get the job done this time around.
“Tough losses never — how to say? — make me feel depressed, like, not thinking of not coming back to the tournament. It only motivates me to come back and to try one more time, try harder and, maybe, work harder on some things which maybe didn’t work in the past,” Sabalenka said. “I’m still hoping to hold that beautiful trophy.”
She is very comfortable playing on hardcourt and has earned back-to-back trophies at the Australian Open. After her 6-3, 7-6, (7-2) win against No. 13 Emma Navarro on Thursday, Sabalenka has now won 26 of her last 27 hardcourt matches.
Another thing that makes Sabalenka dangerous is that she has the fastest forehand speed at the US Open of all women and men with an average speed of 129kmh, around 80mph.
Pegula is well aware of her opponent’s strengths, but she is approaching Saturday feeling confident in her own abilities to give Sabalenka a tough match.
“Obviously she is a really [tough] hardcourt player, if not one of the best in the world,” Pegula said. “But I think that I’m also a really good hardcourt player. In Cincinnati, she served unbelievable and I felt like I still had chances in that match. Hopefully she doesn’t serve that good Saturday, maybe a little bit less would be nice.
“I think I know that I can have a game that can possibly frustrates her. I feel like in the past I just have to be aggressive, I have to get her moving, serve smart, and try and put some pressure on her serve.”
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