US Open: Women’s singles final will crown a 1st-time winner

The 2024 US Open women’s singles final is set: Aryna Sabalenka will face Jessica Pegula on Saturday evening from Arthur Ashe Stadium. Whoever comes out on top will be winning their first title at the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year.

Sabalenka punched her ticket here with a straight-sets semifinal victory over No. 13 Emma Navarro (6-3, 7-6(2)) while Pegula needed three to down Karolina Munchova in her penultimate matchup, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Sabalenka, 26, will be trying for her third ever Grand Slam victory and her first in New York. After a stellar 2023 campaign that saw her win the Australian Open and make the semifinals of all four Grand Slams — the first person since Serena Williams (2016) to do so in one season — she ultimately fell to Coco Gauff in the final.

That loss was just a setback though, as she’d go on to start the Slam season off this year with another title in Australia, her second major win. She’s currently ranked second in the world in singles play, and will be favored in the final on Saturday, though that loss to Gauff has and will continue to come up given how much Sabalenka struggled in that matchup.

In fact, it was a major concern at the tail-end of Thursday’s semifinal, when she was up a set on Navarro. Sabalenka went from being in complete control of the match, to falling down multiple breaks in the second set. That ultimately ended with her battling back and forcing a tiebreak, which she won, however. Despite hitting 34 winners and winning on 74 percent of her first serves, she still hit 34 unforced errors to Navarro’s 13.

Pegula, 30, is the sixth-ranked woman in the world at the moment. She’s played some of the best tennis of her career over the past few years, but this is the furthest she’s made it at a Grand Slam. Her best finishes at the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon are all quarterfinals, making her home turf at the US Open her best Slam. She certainly had the crowd behind her for Thursday’s match.

Pegula held her very first service game against Muchova, but things quickly got out of hand for her. Muchova needed just 28 minutes to take the first set, winning every game after Pegula’s first service. She converted on two of three break attempts, while Pegula came up short on all three of her’s. Pegula looked tired more than anything, which isn’t uncommon this late in the season.

But not too tired to come roaring back, as it turns out. She started off the second set getting broken quickly, but then held twice while breaking Muchova consecutive times to get out to a lead, and eventually the set victory, forcing a third. It’s at this point that it really feels like Muchova is the one who ran out of gas. The third set went very similarly to the first, with Pegula coming out on top for the victory.

Pegula’s run through has been strong, though going into the semifinal, she had only faced one seeded opponent. It just so happens that the seeded opponent was top seed Iga Swiatek, who Pegula downed in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4.

Sabalenka’s run through the tournament also included straight-set victories over No. 7 Qinwen Zheng in the quarterfinals and No. 33 Elise Mertens in the Round of 16.

The women’s singles bracket will wrap up on Saturday, with the men’s bracket concluding with the rest of the tournament on Sunday. The women’s final is set for 4 p.m. ET from Arthur Ashe Stadium, and will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, with live streaming available via ESPN Plus and anywhere that carries ESPN. Below is the full schedule as well as both competitor’s path through the US Open thus far.

US Open tennis women’s singles final
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Jessica Pegula (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET)

No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka’s path to the final
def. Priscilla Hon, 6-3, 6-3
def. Lucia Bronzetti, 6-3, 6-1
def. No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 1-6, 6-2
def. No. 33 Elise Mertens, 6-2, 6-4
def. No. 7 Qinwen Zheng, 6-1, 6-2
def. No. 13 Emma Navarro, 6-3, 7-6(2)

No. 6 Jessica Pegula’s path to the semifinal
def. Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3
def. Sofia Kenin, 7-6(4), 6-3
def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-3, 6-3
def. Diana Shnaider, 6-4, 6-2
def. No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 6-4
def. Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2