Aryna Sabalenka seals first Cincinnati Open title in straight sets against Jessica Pegula - 'This trophy means a lot'

With both Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula playing in their first WTA Cincinnati Open final, it was the Belarusian who came away with the trophy. In a distinctly one-sided contest, the soon-to-be world No. 2 leveraged her indomitable service game to close out the match in straight sets. Even Pegula joked that she would rather have faced Serena Williams than Sabalenka after her 6-3 7-5 loss.

Aryna Sabalenka poses with the champions trophy after defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States in the womens singles final on Final Day of the Cincinnati Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 19, 2024 in Mason, Ohio

Image credit: Getty Images

Aryna Sabalenka was in devastating form to defeat Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5 and claim her first WTA Cincinnati Open title.

It took just 31 minutes for Sabalenka to wrap up the first set, and had her unanswerable service game to thank for her domination, smashing in 71% of her first serves and six aces.

The 26-year-old will become the world ranked No. 2 on Monday, and underlined her lofty credentials in a brutal second set where she won four consecutive love holds on serve.

WTA Wuhan

Gauff reveals why she nearly missed Asian swing after claiming Wuhan Open title

12/10/2025 at 22:07

And following confirmation of her sixth WTA 1000 title, Sabalenka was delighted to be back on top form ahead of the US Open after a shoulder injury kept her from competing at Wimbledon.

"This trophy means a lot," said Sabalenka. "This is a really big achievement, especially coming after a small injury, still having this fear of getting injured again.

"There was a long journey and we worked a lot on my slice game and the game on the net.

"It's given me a lot of good feelings going to New York. But as I always say, it's already in the past and I just have to focus on my game and on improving myself every day."

Driving her opponent back and forth across the court, the first break went the way of Sabalenka, who sandwiched it with a brace of flawless love holds to lead 4-1.

The Belarusian won 12 points in a row on her serve and had thundered in five aces to Pegula’s zero by the time she went 5-2 ahead.

The American responded with her first love hold of the match, but Sabalenka was true to form and swiftly closed out the set on her serve.

After Pegula misheard her opponent's name at the end of her semi-final win over Paula Badosa, the 30-year-old joked that she wished she was indeed playing Serena Williams post-final.

Pegula said post-match: "It's funny, Andrew said Aryna and I thought he said Serena. But it felt like Serena today. I don't know, I might have wanted Serena instead of Aryna today."

A break at the start of set two was snatched by the world No. 3, and four love holds in a row gave Pegula a mountain to climb if she wanted to claim a 10th win in a row.

"You're going to get an opportunity. Stick with it. You're going to get your shot," urged coach Mark Knowles as Pegula looked on despondently.

Sabalenka stuttered at the finish line, inexplicably double faulting to give her opponent a glimpse of a comeback.

Pegula grabbed it with both hands to steal her first break of the match.

But Sabalenka emphatically responded with a hard-fought break back and wrapped up the win when the American could only find the net trying to return a fierce forehand.

Watch and stream the 2024 Laver Cup live on Eurosport and discovery+

WTA Wuhan