New York, Sep 8 (IANS): No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka captured her third Grand Slam singles title, and her first in New York City, defeating American Jessica Pegula, 7-5, 7-5 to win the US Open title.

Up 3-0 in the second set, Sabalenka was forced to fend off a furious comeback bid from Pegula, who won five straight games to threaten a third set. But Sabalenka snapped back with four consecutive games of her own to win her first US Open singles trophy.

With the win, Sabalenka became the first woman to claim both hard-court majors in a single season since 2016, when Germany’s Angelique Kerber took both the Australian Open and US Open titles.

With the title, Sabalenka can also be crowned the queen of hard courts. Her prior two major titles were won on Australian Open cement, in January of this year and in 2023.

Outside the majors, 11 of 13 of Sabalenka’s titles have been won on hard courts. And the No. 2 seed is on a 12-match hard-court winning streak, having taken the Cincinnati Open two weeks ago—beating Pegula in the final there.

Sabalenka will remain world No. 2 and, despite crashing out in the quarterfinals here, Iga Swiatek will retain her No.1 spot.

While Pegula could not claim the trophy, she will earn a new career-high WTA ranking on the heels of her best major run. Come Monday, the American will move up three places to No. 3 in the world.