US Open 2024: Jessica Pegula faces Aryna Sabalenka in the highly anticipated women's final

CNN
—

There were many surprises in the US Open women's singles draw, but the final will feature two players in excellent form.

Jessica Pegula will play her first major final against two-time Grand Slam champion Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday. This will be the second year in a row that an American will face Sabalenka for the title – Coco Gauff defeated the Belarusian in three sets in 2023 to win her first Grand Slam.

The two players will face off at the world-famous Arthur Ashe Stadium, with the final scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. ET on Saturday.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+.

On the North American hard court, Pegula played some of the best tennis of her career, defending her title at the Canadian Open in August to claim her third WTA 1000 title before reaching the final of the Cincinnati Open the following week, where she was defeated by Sabalenka.

The 30-year-old seemed undaunted by the loss and was well on her way to reaching the final. She had entered the US Open with a 0-6 record in Grand Slam quarterfinals and now faced the difficult task of defeating world number one and five-time major winner Iga Świątek to achieve that success.

Pegula stunned the Polish star in straight sets, breaking new ground and reaching the semifinals where she faced Karolína Muchová. She lost her first set of the tournament and was behind after a break, but then recovered to win 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. The Buffalo native now has a chance to win her first major title in front of her home crowd.

“It's a childhood dream,” said the sixth seed. “This is what I wanted as a kid. It's a lot of work, a lot of hard work. You can't imagine how much work goes into it. … I'm just happy to be in a final, but of course I came here to win the title.”

“You know, if you had told me at the beginning of the year that I would make it to the final of the US Open, I would have laughed out loud because that was just my mindset, I didn't think I would make it here.

“To overcome all these challenges and be able to say I have a chance at the title on Saturday is what we play for as players, not to mention that I can do it here in my home country, at my home Slam. It's really perfect.”

Sabalenka leads the direct comparison between the two 5-2. Before Cincinnati, the two last met in the first round of the 2023 WTA Finals, with the American emerging as the winner.

“She's a really great hard court player, if not one of the best in the world,” Pegula said of her opponent. “But I think I'm a really good hard court player too. She served incredibly well in Cincinnati and I felt like I still had a chance in that match. So I hope she doesn't serve as well on Saturday. Maybe a little less would be nice.”

Sabalenka has established herself as an elite hard court player over the years, winning her two major titles at the 2023 and 2024 Australian Open, while five of her seven WTA 1000 titles have come on hard courts.

She has the edge over Pegula in the rankings and head-to-head, winning their last meeting, but the partisan crowd in New York will be a major factor the Belarusian will have to overcome on Saturday. After defeating another home favorite, Emma Navarro, in the semifinals on Thursday, Sabalenka admitted that the support for Gauff in last year's final influenced her then.

“Last year was a very tough experience, a very tough lesson,” said the world No. 2. “Today in the match I thought: 'No, no, no, Aryna, this will not happen again. You have to keep your emotions under control. You have to focus on yourself.'

“There were people supporting me. I tried to focus on them. I thought, 'Come on, there are so many people supporting you. There's your team in the box. There's your family. Just focus on yourself and try – don't try – just fight for it.'”

Sabalenka also dropped just one set before the final – she lost to Ekaterina Alexandrova in the third round – and defeated Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals. On Saturday she has the chance to avenge her loss in last year's final against Pegula, an opponent whose game she knows well.

“We've had a lot of great battles in the past, really difficult, close matches,” Sabalenka said. “She really plays incredible tennis. We played in Cincinnati recently. It was a really tough match, even though I finished the match in two sets, but even so, it wasn't that easy.”

“I would say she is playing her best tennis and feels like she is back on track… she is in incredible shape. It will be another great fight against her.”