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09/07 16:26 CDT Aryna Sabalenka takes the first set 7-5 against Jessica Pegula
in the US Open final
Aryna Sabalenka takes the first set 7-5 against Jessica Pegula in the US Open
final
NEW YORK (AP) --- Aryna Sabalenka has taken the first set of the U.S. Open
women's final 7-5 against Jessica Pegula on Saturday.
Both players are trying to win the title at Flushing Meadows for the first
time. The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka also won the first set of last year's final
before Coco Gauff came back to beat her.
Sabalenka recovered after Pegula erased her 5-2 lead, winning a 14-point game
to go back ahead at 6-5 and then closing it out on her fifth set point.
The title match is being played with the roof closed at Arthur Ashe Stadium
after rain fell earlier Saturday.
Pegula is a 30-year-old from New York who is the No. 6 seed and appearing in
the first Grand Slam final of her career. She had been 0-6 in major
quarterfinals until eliminating No. 1 Iga Swiatek in that round on Wednesday.
Sabalenka is a 26-year-old from Belarus who is seeking her third major
championship. She has won the Australian Open each of the past two seasons and
was the runner-up to Coco Gauff at the 2023 U.S. Open.
Sabalenka entered the match on an 11-match winning streak. Among the crowd were
Stephen Curry, Noah Lyles, Lewis Hamilton and Anna Wintour.
Pegula has won 15 of her past 16 matches, all on hard courts like those used at
Flushing Meadows. The lone loss in that span came against Sabalenka in the
final of the Cincinnati Open last month.
No. 1 Jannik Sinner of Italy will face No. 12 Taylor Fritz of the United States
in the men's final Sunday. Sinner is seeking his second Grand Slam title, while
Fritz hopes to become the first American man to win a major trophy since Andy
Roddick at the 2003 U.S. Open.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
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