Aryna Sabalenka beats home favourite Jessica Pegula in straight sets to reach fourth US Open final

Aryna Sabalenka clinched a straight-sets win over home favourite Jessica Pegula in the US Open 2026 semi-finals to qualify for the final at Flushing Meadows on Thursday.

Sabalenka defeated Pegula with a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline to keep her hopes of winning a third straight US Open title alive. Sabalenka has qualified for the final of the women's singles tournament at the US Open in every edition since 2023.

Sabalenka and Pegula entered the semi-final having met in New York in each of the previous two years. Sabalenka defeated Pegula in the 2024 final before overcoming her in the 2025 semi-final.

Their 2026 semi-final was thus their third consecutive meeting at the US Open and their 14th meeting overall. Sabalenka led their head-to-head record 9-4 before the match.

The first set remained closely contested until the closing stages. Pegula held serve through the opening games and saved a break point in the ninth game to stay level. Sabalenka then raised the pressure late in the set, breaking Pegula in the 12th game to take the opening set 7-5.

Aryna Sabalenka dominates second set

Sabalenka carried that momentum into the second set. She broke Pegula early and continued to put pressure on the American's second serve. Pegula had opportunities to make the set competitive but was unable to prevent Sabalenka from extending her advantage.

Sabalenka secured another break to move 3-1 ahead and then held her serve to strengthen her position. She broke Pegula again in the final game, closing out the match 6-2.

The Belarusian finished the contest with seven aces and 29 winners, while committing 20 unforced errors. She also converted three of her break-point opportunities.

Sabalenka had entered the US Open 2026 after being denied a title at the first three Grand Slam tournaments of the season. She reached the final of the Australian Open 2026, where she lost to Elena Rybakina. She then reached the quarter-finals at the French Open and the fourth round at Wimbledon before beginning her US Open campaign.

Sabalenka had also been tested in the quarter-finals, where she defeated Linda Noskova 7-6(1), 3-6, 7-6(7) in a match that featured two tiebreaks. She had dropped only one set before that encounter.

Her opponent in Saturday's final will be either fourth seed Coco Gauff or second seed Rybakina, with the two of them currently competing in the second semi-final.

Rybakina entered the match as the newly crowned World No 1 after ending Sabalenka's 99-week reign at the top of the WTA rankings by reaching the semi-finals.

A victory in the final would give Sabalenka her third consecutive US Open women's singles title and her fourth Grand Slam singles title overall.