Aryna Sabalenka knocked Jessica Pegula out of the US Open semifinals for the third straight year, and this time, the American had no complaints about how it happened. Speaking after her 7-5, 6-2 defeat, Pegula was candid, even lighthearted, giving Sabalenka full credit for what she described as one of the Belarusian’s best performances of the season. The result sends Sabalenka into her fourth consecutive US Open final, where she’ll face Elena Rybakina.
What did Jessica Pegula say about Aryna Sabalenka after the US Open Semifinal ?
The scoreline looked comfortable for Sabalenka, but the match was tighter than the numbers suggest. Pegula held her own early, and the first set went to 6-5 before Sabalenka broke to take it. From there, the floodgates opened in the second.At her post-match press conference, Pegula was remarkably composed. No frustration, no deflection. Just an honest read of what happened on court. She openly said there was little she could have done against the level Sabalenka brought on the day.“I think that’s definitely, you can ask her, probably the best match she’s played this year. I thought her level was insanely high. Maybe she felt a little bit off at the beginning, but I felt like we were both playing well, serving well,” Pegula said.She even joked about the mysterious energy Sabalenka showed up with.“I don’t know who pissed her off today, but hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but might have been. I don’t know. She played insane. She played super high level. Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today,” she added.
Why was Pegula not upset despite losing at the US Open again?
Losing in the same round three years running at your home Slam would test anyone’s patience. But Pegula took a different view of it. She was clear that her lack of distress wasn’t resignation. It was honest perspective. When the opponent plays at that level, the result stops feeling like a failure and starts feeling like an inevitability.“I mean, I’m honestly not that upset. I don’t really think there was much I could have done today,” she said.She also revealed a funny exchange between her team and Sabalenka’s camp after the match, one that captured exactly how both sides felt.“We joked with her team, we’re like, ‘Do you like us? We’re good people. Like we’re pretty nice to you guys. Do you think that maybe one day she could be maybe off a little bit so I could just get a chance?'”It was humor, yes. But there was something real underneath it. Pegula stayed until the end hoping Sabalenka might slip. She never did.“Of course, I tried to stick around to see if the level would go off, but it seemed like it just got better as the match went on,” she added.
Who will Aryna Sabalenka face in the 2026 US Open Final?
Sabalenka will meet Elena Rybakina in the final, a rematch of the 2026 Australian Open, where Rybakina came out on top 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. That result will be fresh in Sabalenka’s memory. She came here desperate, as she put it herself, and the performance against Pegula showed exactly how dialed in she is heading into Sunday’s final.For Pegula, the question of a Grand Slam title remains open. Three semifinal exits at the same tournament, two of them at the hands of the same player, will keep that conversation going into next season.