Jessica Pegula’s rally ends at U.S. Open

NEW YORK (AP) — At some point, Jessica Pegula will take stock of what she accomplished over the past month, including the run at the U.S. Open that led to her first Grand Slam final. And, in all likelihood, she will be pleased. Proud, even.

That sort of perspective was difficult, though, in the immediate aftermath of a 7-5, 7-5 loss to Aryna Sabalenka at Flushing Meadows on Saturday night with the championship on the line.

“Everyone is like, ‘Congrats! Amazing tournament!’ I’m like, ‘Eh, whatever,” said Pegula, a 30-year-old Buffalonian who had never before been past the quarterfinals at a major. “I think maybe once I decompress a little bit, I’m sure I will be a little bit more appreciative and see all of that.”

She will rise from No. 6 to No. 3 in the WTA rankings on Monday, equaling her career high, after this post-Olympics stretch on North American hard courts that included a title in Toronto and runner-up finishes at both the Cincinnati Open and U.S. Open.

In all, boosted by improvements to her serve and her movement, Pegula went 15-2 in that time — with both defeats coming against No. 2 Sabalenka.

“For sure, I will take a lot of confidence from this — in maybe like a hour or two —- because … I’m kind of annoyed. Not even annoyed losing the tournament; it’s more just I was looking at it at, like, I just wanted to win the match,” explained Pegula, whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. “Now there’s things that are just in my head that I feel I should have done better and stuff like that. But I think that will pass in a little bit.”

She had been 0-6 in major quarterfinals before beating No. 1 Iga Swiatek at that stage this time around. That was followed by a semifinal victory in which Pegula came back from what she called an “embarrassing” first set to beat 2023 French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova in three.

Then Pegula showed more mettle by pushing back in each set against Sabalenka, getting to 5-all in each after trailing 5-2 in the first and 3-0 in the second.

But in the end, she couldn’t quite do enough to keep up with Sabalenka’s power.

“You’re showing some amazing tennis,” Sabalenka told Pegula during the trophy ceremony, “and I’m more than sure that, one day, you’re going to get one.”