&imwidth=800&imheight=600&format=webp&quality=medium "US Open 2026: Sabalenka downs Pegula in a jiffy, sets up three-peat title clash with new world no. 1 Rybakina")
Aryna Sabalenka is unstoppable right now, and her US Open 2026 women's singles opponent Jessica Pegula agrees after being on the receiving end at the Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York on Thursday (Sep 10). Sabalenka, the two-time defending champion, reached her fourth straight US Open final with a 7-5, 6-2 win in straight sets over the American. The Belarusian is now on the verge of becoming only the third woman ever to win three back-to-back US Open titles after Chris Evert (1975, 1976, 1977, and 1978) and Serena Williams (2012, 2013, and 2014). She will now face Elena Rybakina, who defeated 2023 winner Coco Gauff in the second semi-final.
Sabalenka on verge of US Open three-peat
On a day where nothing seemed to go wrong, Sabalenka was level with Pegula at 4-4 in the first set after 25 minutes of play. A double fault at deuce then handed Pegula the first break point, but it wasn't her day. Sabalenka tore through her American opponent's ambition with a ripping forehand cross-court and marched ahead. Pegula was serving at 5-6 down in the first set, and Sabalenka, playing like she had somewhere else to be, won the first set in 43 minutes. Pegula was no match for Sabalenka's level of tennis, as the Belarusian won the second set 6-2 to enter the final.
"I don’t know who pissed her off today," the third-seeded Pegula said after the match. "Hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but might have been. I don’t know. She played insane. She played a super-high level. Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today."
Sabalenka agreed and said: "I felt like whatever decision I would make, it was the right decision. So I would definitely say that against Jess probably today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely a better level from me."
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Rybakina downs Gauff to set up final date with Sabalenka
The Kazakh player, seeded number two in the US Open, and set to replace Sabalenka as the new women's world No. 1 after the tournament, came from a set down to beat 2023 champ Gauff in the second semi-final. Rybakina won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to set up the title clash with Sabalenka, with the match set to take place on Saturday (Sep 12) at the Arthur Ashe Stadium.
