BY JAMES BECK
Aryna Sabalenka will be even more difficult to handle on hard courts after winning her first U.S. Open title on Saturday. Watch out Australian Open and a possible Grand Slam No. 4 for Sabalenka.
She may be extending her domination of Melbourne Down Under in Novak Djokovic style after her march through Flushing Meadows. The powerful 6-0 Belarussian wasn’t perfect, but she played the key points without always going for broke in her normal style.
That was enough to hold off the sometimes brilliant play of Jessica Pegula. Sabalenka simply had too much firepower for the much smaller Pegula.
TURNING ON THE POWER IN THE CLUTCH
When it came time to win both sets, Sabalenka turned on her power, just as she had done against Emma Navarro in the semifinals. Pegula played her heart out, but could not avoid the gloom of a 7-5, 7-5 loss in the championship match.
Sabalenka won the last two games of both sets against Pegula, then sprawled out on the Arthur Ashe Stadium Court, knowing she had just won $3.6 million.
At 26 years old, Sabalenka has plenty of time left in her career to make a habit of winning the hard court Grand Slams.
PEGULA’S BEST CHANCE FOR A GRAND SLAM
For Pegula, she is already in the 30-plus league, and this may have been her best chance to win a Grand Slam.
That’s a shame, considering Pegula’s superb game. She hit great 100-plus mph serves that twisted around the lines and gave Sabalenka a bundle of trouble, while mixing in wonderfully well-placed sizzling forehands and backhands.
But Sabalenka came through at the end of each set, holding service in the 11th game of each set and then breaking Pegula’s service in the last game of each set.
SABALENKA TOO GOOD IN THE END
Overall, Sabalenka was too good and too powerful to lose this U.S. Open final, just as she had been against Navarro in the semifinals, especially at the finish line.
Sabalenka took just enough chances in the clutch to get the job done without having to go for too much and allowing either Pegula or Navarro to force a third set.
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James Beck was the 2003 winner of the USTA National Media Award for print media. A 1995 MBA graduate of The Citadel, he can be reached at Jamesbecktennis@gmail.com.
