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• US Open: 'Speechless' Sabalenka sure Pegula's grand slam wait will end

  US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka credited Jessica Pegula after prevailing 7-5 7-5 in a thrilling Flushing Meadows final.

  A topsy-turvy encounter saw Sabalenka cruise into a 3-0 lead in the second set, only for Pegula to reel off five straight games.

  Yet Sabalenka regained her composure to propel herself back into the lead, with a long Pegula return from a ferocious volley sealing the Belarusian's maiden success in New York.

  "Oh my God, I'm speechless right now," Sabalenka, last year's runner-up, said in the on-court presentation.

  "So many times I thought I was so close to winning the US Open title, it's always been a dream of mine and finally I got this beautiful trophy. It means a lot, it was a really difficult couple of weeks."

  Sabalenka then turned to Pegula, who became the oldest American player to compete in her first grand slam final.

  "Jessica, I know how tough it was in the finals but you are showing some amazing tennis and I'm more than sure that you are going to get one [title], I mean not one, maybe more but let's start with one grand slam," said the Belarusian, who has now won three major titles.

  "Congratulations on a great summer and you're an amazing player and in that second set honestly I was really praying for getting this win and not giving you one set.

  "It means a lot, I'm literally speechless right now."

  Pegula, who lost to Sabalenka at the Cincinnati Open last month, is the first player aged 30+ to reach their first grand slam singles final since Flavia Pennetta (33y 197d) and Roberta Vinci (32y 204d), at the 2015 US Open.

• US Open: Sabalenka topples Pegula in Flushing Meadows thriller

  Aryna Sabalenka clinched the US Open title with a thrilling straight sets victory over Jessica Pegula.

  A remarkable encounter swung one way and then the other at Flushing Meadows, before Sabalenka - who lost to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final - finally prevailed 7-7 7-5 in just under two hours on Saturday.

  The Australian Open champion won her third major title at the culmination of an extraordinary comeback in the second set, after Pegula had won five consecutive matches to claw back from the brink herself.

  Backed on by a partisan crowd, Pegula wasted little time in unsettling Sabalenka, taking the first two points on the Belarusian's serve and, despite the world number two fighting back, it was the American who clinched the first break in game three.

  Yet Sabalenka responded with force, breaking twice in succession to storm into a 4-2 lead.

  Pegula scrapped back with another break, and after saving four set points, clawed herself within one shot of taking the lead.

  A stunning Sabalenka volley forced deuce, though, and a double-fault from Pegula suggested the pressure was starting to show.

  Sabalenka firmly reset as she cruised into a 3-0 lead in set two, but a strong hold of serve saw Pegula get on the board.

  Unforced errors handed Pegula a reprieve, which she duly took, and the fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium were on their feet when the sixth seed held her nerve to restore parity in the next game.

  The jubilation only continued as Sabalenka slipped up again for Pegula to complete the turnaround, before thwarting a fightback from her opponent to win a fifth game on the spin.

  But against the odds, Sabalenka hit back ferociously, reeling off two games to turn the tables yet again.  A first championship point went begging when the second set clipped the net, but when Pegula returned long from a venomous volley, Sabalenka's triumph was confirmed.

  Second time lucky

  It was heartbreak for Sabalenka at Flushing Meadows last season, but after skipping the Olympics to prepare for the hard-court swing, she has proven a worthy champion in New York this time around.

  This final featured the two players who have dominated this season's North American swing, but Sabalenka ultimately had too much for world number six Pegula.

  Sabalenka is the sixth defending runner-up to win the US Open women's singles title in the Open Era, after Evert (1980), Navratilova (1986), Graf (1988 and 1995), Henin (2007) and Serena Williams (2002 and 2012).

  She is the fifth female, meanwhile, in the Open Era to win two major titles on hard court in the same season after Graf (1988 and 1989), Seles (1991 and 1992), Hingis (1997) and Kerber (2016).

  However, she is the first player to finish the season with the most grand slam match wins (18, level with Jasmine Paolini this year) for successive years since Serena Williams in 2015 and 2016.

  Iga Swiatek is understandably the leading light of women's tennis, but Sabalenka is truly worth her place alongside the Pole as a modern great.

  Pegula no pushover

  Midway through set two, Pegula looked down and out 3-0 down, yet the powers of recovery she displayed suggests that a maiden major title is within touching distance for the 30-year-old, who was competing in her first grand slam final. She is only the third player to do so after turning 30.

  She is the fourth player in the Open Era to reach singles finals at the Canadian Open, Cincinnati Open and the US Open in the same year.

  Pegula is one of just five players in the past decade to defeat three former grand slam finalists en route to the US Open final. Each of the previous four went on to win the event – Flavia Pennetta (2015), Angelique Kerber (2016), Sloane Stephens (2017) and Gauff (2023).

  While that was not to be the case for Pegula this time around, there is nothing to say she cannot come back stronger next year, just like Sabalenka.

• US Open: Sinner 'relaxed' about wrist issue ahead of final

  Jannik Sinner is confident the wrist issue that troubled him during Friday's US Open semi-final win over Jack Draper is "nothing to be concerned about" ahead of Sunday's final.

  Sinner reached his first final at Flushing Meadows with an impressive 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-2 success over Draper, who had not dropped a single set en route to the final four.

  While Draper vomited at the side of the court after struggling with anxiety, Sinner also called for medical attention after tweaking his left wrist in the second set.

  The world number one stayed in a brutal rally despite falling awkwardly when playing a lob from deep on the court, then got up to slam a brilliant forehand winner past Draper.

  He immediately received treatment on the affected wrist but showed few signs of discomfort from then on to become Italy's first-ever male finalist at the US Open.

  "The physio loosened it up very fast on court, so after I felt okay in the beginning. Then after it went away by playing, which is good," Sinner told reporters after his win.

  "Let's see how it is tomorrow when it's cold. It's going to be a different feeling. Hopefully it is nothing to be concerned about. 

  "I'm quite relaxed, because if it's something bad, you feel it straightaway a bit more."

  At the age of 23 years and 21 days, Sinner is the youngest man to reach the final at both the Australian Open and the US Open in a single year since the former event switched from grass surfaces in 1988, surpassing Roger Federer in 2004 (23 years, 34 days).

  He will be up against a home favourite in Taylor Fritz on Sunday, and he accepts he will have to play the role of villain in the eyes of a raucous crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

  "It's normal. It's like when I play in Italy, so I'm going to accept that. I have my team and my people who are close to me," he said.

  "In my mind, I know that there are many people watching from home from Italy, and I'll just take some support from them."

  Fritz rallied to beat compatriot Frances Tiafoe in five sets having been both 1-0 and 2-1 down in Friday's second semi-final, and he said reaching the showpiece match represented the realisation of a lifelong dream in an emotional press conference. 

  "It's just how I am. I'm more of an emotional person when I'm happy. When I'm really happy I cry at happy endings of movies and not at sad stuff. That's just how I am," Fritz said.

  "It's just joy, the crowd cheering and that realisation, like, 'wow, I'm in the finals of the US Open. 

  "It's such a lifelong dream come true. It's something I've worked my whole life for, to be in this situation. Realising that got me a little bit choked up."