NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula lost to Aryna Sabalenka at the U.S. Open for a third straight year Thursday night, falling 7-5, 6-2 in the semifinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium. Pegula said afterward that she did her best and did not think she played badly, Reuters reported.
“I’m honestly not that upset, to be honest, because I don’t really think there was much I could have done today,” Pegula said.
Neither player broke serve through the first 11 games. When Pegula stepped to the line serving at 5-6, she had won 18 of 20 points on her first serve. Sabalenka broke her in that game to take the set, then went up 4-1 in the second.
Pegula said Sabalenka played at a super-high level. “I think that’s definitely, you can ask her, probably the best match she’s played this year,” Pegula explained, according to the AP. “I thought her level was insanely high.”
Sabalenka finished with 29 winners to Pegula’s 12. On Pegula’s second serve, she won 14 of 19 points. Reuters counted seven aces for Sabalenka.
Jessica Pegula Beat Aryna Sabalenka In Berlin In June
Pegula came into Thursday having won two of her previous three matches against Sabalenka. In Wuhan last season, she came from behind to beat her. The most recent meeting before Thursday was the Berlin semifinals in June, when Pegula won the third set 6-0.
“Maybe that’s why she was so pissed off at me,” Pegula said with a smile.
After three straight losses to Sabalenka in New York, Pegula said as a joke that she and her team had gone to Sabalenka’s camp. “We’re, like, do you like us? Like, we’re good people. We’re pretty nice to you guys,” Pegula said. “Do you think that maybe, like, one day she could be maybe off a little bit, so I could just, like, get a chance?”
The win improved Sabalenka to 10-4 against Pegula. She beat Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in the 2024 U.S. Open final, then came back from a set down to win their 2025 semifinal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Jessica Pegula Still Chasing First Major Title
Pegula, 32, is from Buffalo, New York. Thursday was her third straight U.S. Open semifinal. Of the four women who reached the semifinals, she is the only one without a major title.
In January, Pegula reached the Australian Open semifinals and lost to Elena Rybakina. She beat Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in Tuesday’s U.S. Open quarterfinals for her 50th win of the 2026 season.
Pegula was the No. 3 seed. For the first time since 1975, the top four seeds all reached the U.S. Open women’s semifinals.
Since losing to Coco Gauff in the 2023 final, Sabalenka has won 19 straight matches at the U.S. Open, according to the AP. Saturday will be her eighth consecutive final at a hard-court major, a run Reuters reported is an Open Era record.
Sabalenka will face Rybakina, who beat Gauff 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the second semifinal Thursday. When the WTA releases its new rankings Monday, Rybakina will replace Sabalenka at No. 1. The final is Saturday at 3 p.m. CT on ESPN.
