Top seed Aryna Sabalenka stayed on course for a third consecutive US Open crown on Thursday, storming into the final with a straight sets demolition of American third seed Jessica Pegula.
Sabalenka – who beat Pegula en route to US Open wins in 2024 and 2025 – punched her ticket to Saturday's final with a 7-5, 6-2 win on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
The 28-year-old Belarusian, bidding to join Chris Evert and Serena Williams as the only women to win three straight US Open titles, swatted aside Pegula with a dominant service game and a fearsome array of powerful groundstrokes.
Standing strong 🗽@SabalenkaA powers her way into the US Open final!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/ML5RWFvUKY
— wta (@WTA) September 11, 2026
Sabalenka will face the winner of Thursday's other semifinal between second seed Elena Rybakina or fourth seed Coco Gauff – who beat Sabalenka in the 2023 final.
On the evidence of her semifinal win, Sabalenka will head into the final bristling with confidence after producing her best performance of the tournament to snuff out Pegula's dream of a first ever Grand Slam title.
And that's a secret she will sorta tell 🤫@SabalenkaA | #USOpen pic.twitter.com/mDarQWrCat
— wta (@WTA) September 11, 2026
"I'm super happy I was able to play such tennis," said Sabalenka, who sent down seven aces and 29 winners. "I was so desperate to win. I wanted it so badly."
Both players gave away little in the first set, serving superbly to keep the match on serve until the 12th game, with Sabalenka leading 6-5.
It was Pegula who would blink first, finding herself down 0-40 after a barrage of hefty groundstrokes from Sabalenka, who clinched the set when Pegula duffed a return into the net.
Sabalenka kept the momentum rolling in the second set, attacking Pegula's suspect second serve and grabbing the crucial break for a 3-1 lead when she lasered a forehand into the corner.
The rest of the set went with serve until the eighth game, when Pegula hit a return long to give up match point.
Sabalenka sealed victory with another ferocious forehand.