How a year of growth led to Sabalenka’s US Open championship

There were at least a dozen opportunities during the taut, terrific first set of Saturday’s US Open final for Aryna Sabalenka to lose it.

For instance, the comically bad drop shot that drew only a grimace and a funny face. Or the double fault that caused her to (gently) tap her racquet on the baseline. Another double when she redirected Jessica Pegula’s return with a balletic right foot tap. The 19-shot rally — the first of five set points — that ended with a backhand in the net.

A year ago — after a loss to Coco Gauff in the final, Sabalenka slammed bits of her broken racquet in the trash — she might have imploded. But this current, 26-year-old version is a different kind of cat. Showing a dazzlingly complete game that should send shock alarms to even the most accomplished Hologic WTA Tour players, Sabalenka converted that fifth set point with yet another deft drop shot that Pegula couldn’t reach.

It happened again in the second set, when Pegula won five straight games — and Sabalenka began preparing mentally for a third set. But poise prevailed, and Sabalenka was a 7-5, 7-5 winner in Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Here are some key takeaways from the final match of the 2024 Grand Slam season:

Resilience ultimately prevails

Through it all, Sabalenka never stopped swinging.

“I know that I have to go for it,” Sabalenka told reporters afterward. “That’s the only way it works for me. Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands — so long time ago I decided for myself in that those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing.

“If I’m going to swing till the end without stopping my arms, I know the ball going to go in, so that’s, like, that’s the only option for me.”

Thus, Sabalenka is the only woman to win two Grand Slams this year, matching Carlos Alcaraz and, possibly, Jannik Sinner. She and Angelique Kerber (2016) are the only two women to bookend the major season in the past 27 years.

Sabalenka, who missed Wimbledon with an injury and opted to skip the Olympics to focus on the hard-court swing, is on fire. This was her 12^th consecutive win on American hard courts.

Chase for No. 1

Sabalenka’s 2024 record at the Grand Slams was a scorching 18-1 — and she didn’t play Wimbledon. Though she’s won three of the past eight majors, Sabalenka remains the No.2 player in the PIF WTA Rankings.

For now.

So brace yourself, tennis fans.

The Slam season may be over, but for the second straight year the No.1 ranking is very much hanging in the balance. Sabalenka, who held the top spot for eight weeks last year, has picked up 3,000 points in less than three weeks.

The PIF Race to the WTA Finals in Riyadh: No.1 Iga Swiatek leads with 8,285 points with Sabalenka next at 7,876. Over the next two months, the Asian swing features four WTA Tour 500-level tournaments and two 1000s, in Beijing and Wuhan. That’s 4,000 Race points available.

“I’m not trying to focus on ranking, to be honest,” Sabalenka said. “I’m just trying to focus on myself, and I know that if on each tournament I’ll be able to play my best tennis and I’ll be able to bring this fight spirit on each game. I’ll be able to become World No. 1 again.”

Power meets precision

For Sabalenka, it starts with the serve. She and Pegula both won 65 percent of their first serves, but Sabalenka was twice as good with seconds — 14-for-33 (.424) versus Pegula’s 6-for-28 (.214).

The Sabalenka forehand — its measured average speed was faster than any man playing here — gets all the headlines. Sure enough, Sabalenka cracked 40 winners (against 34 unforced errors) and had 205 for the tournament — a gaudy average of 29 per match.

“It’s really good to have these options in your pocket,” she said. “You feel like, ‘OK, sometimes you don’t feel your best on the baseline and you can just go for a slice or a drop shot or come to the net.’

“I’ve been always working on this variation on the court. I’m really glad that I’m brave enough to use these tools in those key moments.”

In elite company

Her third major title pushes her past five other active players of note: Svetlana Kuznetsova, Victoria Azarenka, Petra Kvitova, Simona Halep and Barbora Krejcikova.

The scoreboard among unretired players: Venus Williams (7), Iga Swiatek (5), Naomi Osaka (4), Sabalenka (3).

“I don’t know how to describe that feeling,” Sabalenka said. “You’re crying, you’re laughing, you’re just, you know, you feel all these emotions at the same time. That’s the best feeling.

“I really wish everyone could experience that.”

The real story? Sabalenka has new elements to her game. She’s following that power and depth to the net. She won 18 of 23 points up front against Pegula, a game reminiscent of the forward-first 18-time major champion Martina Navratilova.

In fact, Sabalenka joins Navratilova, along with Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Victoria Azarenka as the only women in the Open Era to reach the final in four consecutive hard-court Grand Slams.