Aryna Sabalenka dedicated her US Open title to her family who “never gave up on my dream” after winning her third Grand Slam title in a year of personal torment.
World number two Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to add her first Australian Open title to her first title in New York.
For her, this US Open was her first Grand Slam victory since the death of her ex-boyfriend in March – at the French Open she only made it to the last eight and missed Wimbledon due to injury.
Ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, once a star of the NHL, died by suicide at the age of 42.
Five years ago, Sabalenka’s father Sergiy died of meningitis at the age of only 43.
“After the loss of my father, it was always my goal to write our family name into tennis history,” said the 26-year-old Belarusian.
“Every time I see my name on this trophy, I am so proud of myself. I am proud of my family for never giving up on my dream and doing everything they could to support me in continuing.
“I’ve had this chance in life, so it really means a lot to me. It’s always been my dream.”
On Saturday, Sabalenka called upon her familiar weapons of super-powerful serve and brutal groundstrokes to defeat sixth-seeded Pegula.
With her 40 winners, she achieved a total of 205 tournament victories, including 36 aces. With 191.5 km/h (119 mph), she had the third fastest serve in the competition.
“I know I have to try. That’s the only way it works for me,” Sabalenka said.
“Every time I hold my arms up and the ball flies into the stands. That’s why I decided a long time ago that in the important moments I just have to go for it, that I have to swing.”
Saturday’s defeat came in a year of ups and downs for former world number three Pegula.
After complaining of burnout after the Australian Open, she suffered a rib injury that forced her to sit out European clay court tournaments, including the French Open.
She marked her return to active tennis by winning the grass court title in Berlin.
“In Berlin I was super fresh and wanted to win these games, I was kind of excited about it,” said Pegula.
After second-round losses at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, Pegula raced to the title in Toronto and finished second behind Sabalenka in Cincinnati.
She finished the US summer hard court season with 15 wins in 17 matches.
– Pegula gains trust –
Pegula had lost six times in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament before finally making his breakthrough into this year’s US Open final.
Four of these defeats occurred against the eventual champions.
In 2022, she lost to Asheigh Barty at the Australian Open and to Iga Swiatek at both Wimbledon and the US Open.
Last year, it was Marketa Vondrousova who defeated her in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon before the Czech won the title.
“I lost again today against a really good player,” she said on Saturday.
“I lost every time to girls who had practically won the tournament. I had a difficult start to the year and didn’t really expect to do so well on the hard court, but I was able to somehow flip the script.”
“That gives me a lot of self-confidence.”
DJs/JS
