New York (AFP) – Aryna Sabalenka dedicated her US Open title to her family who “never gave up on my dream” after a third Grand Slam title was achieved in a year of personal torment. World number two Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to add a maiden New York crown to her back-to-back Australian Open titles. This US Open was the first Grand Slam she had won since the death of her former boyfriend in March — she only made the last-eight at the French Open and missed Wimbledon with injury. Ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, once a star of the NHL, died from apparent suicide at the age of 42. Five years ago, Sabalenka’s father Sergiy passed away from meningitis at just 43.
“After I lost my father, it has always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis,” said the 26-year-old Belarusian. “Every time I see my name on that trophy, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going. I had this opportunity in life so it really means a lot. It has always been my dream.”
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On Saturday, Sabalenka summoned her familiar weapons of super-charged serve and brutal groundstrokes to defeat sixth-ranked Pegula. Her 40 winners took her tournament total to 205 with 36 aces. She boasted the third fastest serve of the competition of 191.5 km/h (119 mph). “I know that I have to go for it. That’s the only way it works for me,” said Sabalenka. “Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands, so a long time ago I decided for myself in those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing.”
Saturday’s defeat, meanwhile, came during a rollercoaster year for former world number three Pegula. After complaining of feeling burnt-out after the Australian Open, she was laid low by a rib injury which forced her to sit out the European clay court swing, including the French Open. She marked her return to action by winning the grass-court title in Berlin. “In Berlin I was super fresh and wanting to win these matches, and kind of fired up,” said Pegula.
After second-round losses at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, Pegula raced to the Toronto title and finished runner-up to Sabalenka in Cincinnati. She ended the US summer hardcourt season with 15 wins in 17 matches.
Pegula had lost in Grand Slam quarter-finals six times before finally breaking through to this year’s US Open championship match. Four of those losses came against the eventual champions. In 2022, she fell to Ashleigh Barty at the Australian Open and to Iga Swiatek at both Wimbledon and the US Open. At Wimbledon last year, it was Marketa Vondrousova who defeated her in the last eight before the Czech went on to capture the title.
“I’ve lost again to a really good player today,” she said on Saturday. “I lost to girls that pretty much won the tournament every time. I had a rough start to the year and I didn’t really expect to be doing this well in the hard court swing, and I was able to kind of flip that script. I will take a lot of confidence from this.”
© 2024 AFP
