Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, poses for photos with the championship trophy after defeating Jessica Pegula, of the United States, in the women's singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships in New York. (AP )

NEW YORK, Sept 8, (AP): Aryna Sabalenka left the U.S. Open in tears 12 months ago as the runner-up. She exited in the semifinals each of the two years before that. This time, Sabalenka was in a joking mood after winning her first championship at Flushing Meadows and the third Grand Slam title of her career.

Sabalenka, the No. 2 seed, got past No. 6 Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a rollicking final under a closed retractable roof at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday, adding this triumph to the two she earned at the Australian Open each of the past two seasons, also on hard courts. "So many times, I thought I was so close to getting a U.S. Open title. It’s been a dream of mine. Finally, I got this beautiful trophy. It means a lot,” said Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, who is on a 12-match winning streak. "I remember," she said, "all those tough losses in the past here.”

That includes in the semifinals in both 2021, against Leylah Fernandez, and 2022, against No. 1 Iga Swiatek. Most poignant, of course, was last year, when Sabalenka was rattled by the Ashe crowd, blew a set advantage, and was defeated by Coco Gauff. Like Gauff, Pegula is an American, but the spectators were far more generous toward Sabalenka on Saturday, applauding her best efforts and even obliging when she waved her arms to ask for extra noise.