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Athlete Spotlight

Summer McIntosh Bags Third Swimming Canada Female Swimmer of the Year Nod

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by Matthew De George – Swimming World Magazine

Summer McIntosh on Tuesday was announced as the 2024 Swimming Canada Female Swimmer of the Year.

It’s the third straight year that the 18-year-old has earned that distinction, and she adds a fourth straight Female Junior Swimmer of the Year in this, her final year of eligibility.

McIntosh was one of the stars of the Paris Olympics – among all Canadian athletes and swimmers male or female. McIntosh won gold in the women’s 200 butterfly, women’s 200 individual medley and 400 IM and silver in the 400 freestyle. She set Olympic and World Junior records in the 200 fly and 200 IM. She’s the owner of the 400 IM world record from Canadian Trials in May.

McIntosh started the Paris Olympics with the silver, then ascended to the top step of the podium in each of her other races. The 400 IM brought a margin of victory of nearly six seconds over the field.

The 200 fly, a race in which her mother Jill (nee Horstead) swam at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, went down as her favorite.

“Sharing that moment with my family, Team Canada and friends, everyone there cheering me on was an awesome moment,” McIntosh told Swimming Canada. “The 200 fly is one of my favourite events if not my favourite event. It was amazing.”

McIntosh capped the meet with arguably the most impressive medal of the bunch, beating a star-studded field in the 200 IM by .36 seconds for gold.

McIntosh debuted at the Olympics in 2021, making a late charge in the year’s postponement of the Tokyo Games. She finished fourth in the 400 free behind a stacked podium of heavyweights, was ninth in the 200 free to miss the final and helped Canada’s women set a national record in finishing fourth in the 800 free relay. The expectations of what McIntosh, who turned 15 two weeks after the close of the Tokyo Games, could do in the future were astronomical then. But she’s summarily accomplished many of them.

That included maintaining such a high level despite 13 swims over nine days in Paris.

“Overall the whole week – well it was nine days, longer than a week – was a pretty crazy experience,” she said. “I really tried to take it one race at a time. Getting that silver medal the first night got me going and I tried to get better race to race.”

McIntosh is the first swimmer to win the female swimmer of the year three times since Kylie Masse from 2017-19. Masse and McIntosh are tied for the most individual Olympic medals for a Canadian swimmer with four. McIntosh on Tuesday was also named the only aquatics honoree among Forbes’ 30 Under 30 sports figures.

McIntosh, who shifted her training base before Paris to Sarasota, Fla., now has her eyes on the 2024 World Short-Course Championships in Budapest.

“For world short course we have three new rookies on the team, that’s so exciting,” she said. “It’s amazing being on Team Canada and trying to grow Canada bigger and bigger. It’s really promising and exciting. There are more people my age achieving great things, it’s really cool and we’re improving and getting better.”

Naeher retires as USWNT’s ‘greatest goalkeeper’

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Cesar Hernandez | ESPN FC

United States coach Emma Hayes said retiring veteran Alyssa Naeher leaves the team as the “the greatest goalkeeper” the country has produced after Tuesday’s 2-1 win over the Netherlands.

“What I did say to her yesterday, in my opinion, she’s the greatest goalkeeper this country’s ever had, for lots of reasons,” Hayes said about the 36-year-old, who made six saves in her final USWNT match. “Most people don’t really realize what it takes to stay at the top. For her to do it, for the number of years she’s done it, wow.”

Naeher announced last week that the winter friendlies against England and the Netherlands would be the last of her national team career. The veteran, who will continue playing at club level for the Chicago Red Stars, earned a shutout in a 0-0 draw with England before emerging as one of the top performers in Tuesday’s narrow victory against the Dutch.

“I’m going to miss the coffee dates, hanging around the team room, talking. I’m going to miss the competition, playing at the highest level,” Naeher told ESPN after the match. “Obviously, I’m not done done, I’m still playing NWSL. But to have played internationals and World Cups is something I’ll miss, but I’ll miss the people.”

Defender Emily Fox also praised the goalkeeper who has won two World Cups and an Olympic gold medal — and is the only goalie to have shutouts in both a World Cup and Olympic gold medal final.

“Big shout to her, we’re going to miss her so much,” Fox said. “We’re happy we managed to win. I think the first half was rough, but we reorganised, got control of it.”

The USWNT relied on Naeher to stay alive in their latest match in which they were outshot 14 to 1 during the first half. An equalizing own-goal from the Netherlands before half-time allowed the team to eventually fight back with a winner from Lynn Williams in the 71st minute.

“If we’re not going to be our best with the ball, we better be our best without it and I thought we got bullied and harassed. … The Dutch should have been up 2-0 in the first half,” Hayes said. “We’re not sitting here saying we were the better team, you can still win football matches and not be at your best.

“I thought today we demonstrated, by not being at our best both in and out of possession, but finding a way to win, is a sign of a great team.”

Williams, the lone USWNT goal scorer, admitted the result wasn’t the most appealing of performances from the No. 1-ranked FIFA side.

“I wouldn’t say that this was our prettiest game of soccer ever, and sometimes that’s how games go,” the Gotham FC forward said. “The biggest thing was matching their intensity, getting to the second ball, getting to the first ball.”

With the results in hand, the USWNT closed out the year with a 20-game undefeated streak that featured a Gold Cup title, the SheBelieves Cup and an Olympic gold medal.

Hayes, who has never lost as U.S. coach, will lead her team back into action in the 2025 SheBelieves Cup tournament. The Americans will face Colombia, Australia and Japan in the annual tournament that is held in February.

Watkins, Bueckers headline preseason AP All-America team in women’s hoops; 3 sophomores for 1st time

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By  DOUG FEINBERG | AP News

USC star JuJu Watkins and UConn’s Paige Bueckers headline The Associated Press preseason All-America women’s college basketball team released Tuesday that for the first time includes three sophomores in a clear sign of the young talent in a sport coming off a record year of fan interest.

Watkins and Bueckers were unanimous choices by the 30-member national media panel that selects the AP Top 25 each week. It’s the third appearance on the team for Bueckers, who also was a preseason choice in her sophomore season and last year.

The duo was joined by Hannah Hidalgo of Notre Dame, Madison Booker of Texas and Kiki Iriafen of USC. Watkins, Hidalgo and Booker are all second-year players.

“It’s unbelievable. Those players excelled as freshmen and their teams won. They did it in multiple ways,” USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb said. “It’s really exciting for the game and the future of it.”

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Gottlieb’s stars, Watkins and Iriafen, are the first pair of teammates selected to the All-America team since 2017-18, when UConn had three of the five players chosen. Iriafen entered the transfer portal soon after Stanford Hall of Fame coach Tara VanDerveer announced her retirement in April.


“Kiki came because she wanted to play with JuJu, who recruited her because she wanted to play with Kiki,” Gottlieb said. “It’s exciting to see their personalities mesh.”

Watkins and her fellow sophomores were part of the ratings and attendance boom last season for women’s college basketball that was led by Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reese. NCAA Tournament attendance was the highest it’s ever been and the championship game that featured Clark and Iowa against undefeated South Carolina had a record TV audience of 18.7 million, the highest for a basketball broadcast of any kind in five years.

Bueckers averaged 21.9 points and 5.2 rebounds to help UConn reach the Final Four, where the Huskies lost to Iowa in another game that drew high vioewership. UConn’s star has eligibility left after sporadic injuries, but has said this will be her last year in school. She finally had a healthy season last year for the Huskies after missing most of her sophomore year.

Watkins burst onto the national scene as a freshman last year and put up eye-popping numbers. The Los Angeles native averaged 27.1 points, second only to Clark, and set the national record for a freshman with 920 points. She helped the Trojans reach the Elite Eight in their deepest NCAA Tournament run in three decades.

There are high expectations for the team, which is ranked third in the preseason poll behind No. 1 South Carolina and No. 2 UConn. Iriafen averaged 19.4 points and 11.0 rebounds for Stanford last year, including scoring a career-high 41 in the second round win over Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament.

Hidalgo, like Watkins, had a stellar freshman season. She averaged 22.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 5.5 assists for the Fighting Irish, helping the team win the ACC Tournament and advance to the Sweet 16.

Booker stepped up her play for the Longhorns after Rori Harmon went down with an ACL injury in late December. She was thrust into the starting point guard slot and shined, averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Those numbers were even higher after Harmon’s injury.

Bueckers, Watkins and Hidalgo were all first-team AP All-Americans in the spring. Booker was on the second team with Iriafen earning honorable mention.

The AP began releasing a preseason All-America team before the 1994-95 season.

Ruth Chepngetich does something no other woman has done before in Chicago Marathon

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Ruth Chepngetich did something no other female marathoner has ever done before and set an unofficial world record with her finish in the 2024 Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

Her historic finish marks the first women’s marathon time under 2 hours and 10 minutes — the previous world record was 2 hours, 11 minutes and 53 seconds, set by Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa at the 2023 Berlin Marathon. Chepngetich finished with an unofficial time of 2 hours, 9 minutes and 56 seconds.

“I feel so great. I’m proud of myself and I thank God for the victory and the world record,” she told NBC Chicago at the finish line moments after her stunning finish. “This is my dream that has come true. I fight a lot thinking about world record and I have fulfilled it and I’m much grateful.”

Chepngetich, the 2021 and 2022 Bank of American Chicago Marathon winner and runner-up in 2023, returned to the course in 2024 to try and reclaim her title. And she did more than that.


Ruth Chepngetich makes history with likely world record in women’s marathon as she cruises to Chicago Marathon title.
“This woman is on pace to do something that I never really thought I would see in a lifetime,” fellow marathoner and NBC commentator Carrie Tollefson said during the live broadcast as Chepngetich raced closer to the finish line.

“It’s almost like seeing someone land on the moon,” Tollefson added.


Experts likened the finish to the world record set in the men’s race in 2023, which saw the late Kelvin Kiptum become the first man to run a marathon in under 2 hours and 1 minute.

Chepngetich said she dedicated her race to Kiptum.

It’s not Chepngetich’s first time making Chicago Marathon history.

Chepngetich not only won the 2022 Chicago Marathon, but she ran the fourth-fastest women’s marathon time in history during that race, running 2:14:18.

Since making her marathon debut in 2017, she has won Chicago (twice), Nagoya (twice), Istanbul (twice), Dubai and the 2019 World Championships.

Recently, she finished ninth at the 2024 London Marathon with a 2:24:36 finish. In her most recent race, she won the Buenos Aires Half Marathon in 1:05:58.

Billie Jean King Serves Another Historical First For Women With Congressional Gold Medal

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By: Liz Elting | Forbes

September ended with a historic win for women’s sports. As announced in a post made by the U.S. Open’s Instagram account last week, Billie Jean King is now the first individual woman athlete to receive the Congressional Gold Medal. This is no small feat—the Congressional Gold Medal is one of the highest non-military honors presented by the U.S. Congress to those who’ve made outstanding achievements for American society.

The Congressional Gold Medal has been around since the American Revolution and includes notable recipients such as former NFL player Stephen Gleason, activist Rosa Parks, former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela, the Wright brothers and even George Washington. After President Joe Biden signed the “Billie Jean King Congressional Gold Medal Act” legislation into law last Thursday, that list now includes King.

This isn’t the first time King has received a high governmental honor. In 2009, President Barack Obama bestowed King with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which is given to those who make significant contributions to U.S. national security, world peace or culture. The fact that King won not one, but two governmental honors in her lifetime isn’t surprising. In fact, it’s beyond well deserved. As King’s Congressional Gold Medal Act cites, her historic defeat against Bobby Riggs, a former number one tennis player who sought to discredit women in sports, forever set the precedent that women can be just as—and even more—athletically skilled and competitive as men.

Of course, King went on to be the first tennis player and woman to be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsperson of the Year, but even more crucial is her role in progressing women’s rights both on and off the court. King founded the Women’s Tennis Association (an organization that is actively increasing funding for women’s sports), successfully lobbied for women tennis players to be paid equally to men, and formed an independent women’s professional tennis circuit. Moreover, other professional athletes, including former United States women’s national soccer team captain Julie Foudy have cited King’s advice as pivotal in their own fight for equal pay.

Though arguably her most profound accomplishment is her work to establish Title IX. One of the clauses in Title IX requires educational institutions to equally reward women and men athletes. Research from the International Journal of Physiology, Nutrition and Physical Education has shown that access to collegiate, and subsequently professional sports, has significantly increased because of the foundation of Title IX.

What’s more, King’s honor couldn’t have come at a more momentous time for the business of women’s sports. According to ESPN, during the Paris 2024 Olympics, women accounted for 26 gold medals—the most won by a women’s team in a single Olympics. The four most-watched days of the 2024 Games also coincided with the women’s gymnastics events raking in around 35.4 million viewers. And it’s not just the Olympics. From professional women’s soccer to basketball, Nielsen has found that viewership for women’s sports is progressively on the rise and according to PwC, 85% of experts forecast double-digit growth for women’s sports revenues over the next three to five years.

King’s fight for women in sports is far from over. She might be approaching 81 years in age this November, yet King continues to fight for women by investing in women’s sports teams and women-founded companies. King and her wife, Ilana Kloss, fund several sports teams and startups through their investment firm Billie Jean King (BJKVanEck Vectors Gaming ETF 0.0%) Enterprises. Additionally, King continues to collaborate with companies to further inclusivity in Corporate America. For instance, King’s campaign with E.L.F Beauty “serves facts” about the importance of having women and more diverse candidates on corporate boards.

There’s no way around it—King has made and keeps making history for women’s rights in ways that will continue reverberating for generations to come. Whether it’s putting forth a federal law to protect women athletes or winning Congressional awards, King has forever empowered millions of women both in and out of sports. This is just another page to add to the history books as King continues to change the world.

Collier, Reeve Earn 2024 WNBA Awards

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By: Dee Lab | Just Women’s Sports

Just before the 2024 WNBA semifinals tipped off on Sunday, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier won the Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) award while head coach Cheryl Reeve earned both Coach (COY) and Executive of the Year (EOY).

Collier snags WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award
In perhaps the season’s most-debated WNBA award race, Collier emerged with 36 of the 67 votes to take the 2024 DPOY title. As just the second Minnesota player to ever win it, joining Lynx legend Sylvia Fowles, who took him the title twice while playing with the club.

Collier led the league’s second-best defensive team this season by holding her opponents to just 36.2% in field goal shooting, better than any other player in the WNBA this year. On top of that, she posted career highs in steals, rebounds, and blocks.

Las Vegas’s A’ja Wilson shoots the ball over fellow 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year contender, Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier.
Both A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier were favorites for the 2024 WNBA DPOY award. (Ben Brewer/Getty Images)
“I think it’s just having that overall aggression on both sides of the ball,” Collier said in response to her win. “We always are saying defense leads the offense because it lets you get in transition and it lets you push the pace. It lets you get the other team on their heels, so we take a lot of pride in our defense and it’s something that obviously I’ve worked hard to improve because I know it’s what’s best for the team.”

Las Vegas’s 2024 WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson — who won DPOY in 2022 and 2023 — finished second with 26 votes, while Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor came in third with three votes.

The WNBA also released its 2024 All-Defensive Teams on Sunday, with Collier, Wilson, and Magbegor joining Connecticut’s DiJonai Carrington and New York’s Breanna Stewart on the first team.

Cheryl Reeve is handed her 2024 WNBA COY award on Sunday.
Cheryl Reeve is the only WNBA coach to win four COY awards. (David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)
Lynx boss Reeve honored with 2024 WNBA Coach and Executive awards
Having led Minnesota to the best post-Olympic break record in the league — and after guiding Team USA to an eighth-straight gold medal — Reeve caps her 2024 WNBA season with a record-breaking fourth Coach of the Year award.

Claiming 62 of the 67 available COY votes, Reeve ran away with the 2024 title. The league-leading Liberty’s boss, Sandy Brondello, garnered four votes, with Fever coach Christie Sides earning a the final nod for taking Indiana to their first playoffs since 2016.

On top of her sideline success, Reeve’s front office prowess also snagged the head coach 2024 Executive of the Year honors. She joins recently ousted LA Sparks manager Curt Miller as the only individuals to win both awards in the same season.

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve talks to Natisha Hiedeman during a WNBA game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Reeve has won WNBA Coach of the Year four times over her 14 seasons with the Lynx. (Emilee Chinn/Getty Images)
Much of Reeve’s 2024 managerial success has been attributed to key signings and trades earlier this year. Reeve added shot-maker Courtney Williams and sharpshooter Alanna Smith during the offseason’s WNBA free agency window, and traded for clutch bench player Myisha Hines-Allen just last month.

All three have been integral to Minnesota’s 2024 success.

Reeve, however, denies any grand master plan in concocting that success, explaining simply, “You work hard. You do the things that you think are the best path for your team. Sometimes you get lucky and you get lightning in a bottle, as they say. And that’s what this team is.”

A’ja Wilson sets single-season rebound record

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By Jamie Barton, CNN

Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson broke the WNBA single-season rebound record on Tuesday, picking up seven boards in an 85-72 win over the Seattle Storm.

Wilson’s performance took her to 451 rebounds on the year, five more than the previous record set by Chicago Sky rookie Angel Reese, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury earlier this month.

The Aces’ center has now added another record to her collection, having broken the single-season scoring mark last week and then becoming the first ever WNBA player to rack up 1,000 points in one season on Sunday.


Despite making history once again on Tuesday night, Wilson was relatively indifferent to the record.

“That’s cool,” she said after the game, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I mean, I’m 6-foot-4 and I’m around the basket. I hope I can grab a couple rebounds for my team. But when it comes to just getting (rebounds) to get them, I’m not focused on that. I’m focused on putting the ball in the hoop.”

The result means Wilson and Co. are currently seeded fourth ahead of the playoffs, but the Aces could grab the third seed on Thursday – the final day of the regular season – if the Sky beat the Connecticut Sun and the Aces take care of business against the Dallas Wings.

“Our best basketball is still in front of us, and we also know that we are starting to click,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “Ask me three weeks ago, and I was not liking us. And today, I feel pretty good about where we are at as a basketball team.”

The Aces are looking to become the second ever WNBA team to win a three-peat this season; the Houston Comets won the first four titles in league history from 1997 to 2000.

Liberty and Lynx lock top two seeds

Elsewhere, the Minnesota Lynx sealed the No. 2 seed in one of the games of the season. A dramatic three-pointer from Bridget Carleton with 4.6 seconds remaining clinched a 78-76 victory over the Connecticut Sun – the only team that could have caught them in the standings.

After a big run in the fourth put the Sun in front, there were eight lead changes in the final two minutes and 25 seconds, ending with Carleton’s heroics.

Napheesa Collier led the way for the Lynx with a game-high 25 points, with Kayla McBride and Carleton adding 14 and 13 respectively. The Sun, meanwhile, had four in double figures – led by Alyssa Thomas’ 18 – but it wasn’t enough on the night.

The Lynx are the hottest team in the league, having won seven in a row and going 13-1 since the Olympic break. It is the first time the franchise has won 30 games in a season.


In the Eastern Conference, the New York Liberty clinched No. 1 overall seed with an 87-71 win against the Washington Mystics. Forward Breanna Stewart was at the center of the action, picking up 15 points and 10 rebounds.

It was fairly comfortable for New York – the Mystics committed 16 turnovers and didn’t hold a lead at any point after Stewart’s layup with 8:15 remaining in the first quarter.

A’ja Wilson breaks the WNBA’s single-season scoring record and eyes another milestone

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By: Associated Press

A’ja Wilson broke the WNBA single-season scoring record just before the first half of the Las Vegas Aces’ game against the Indiana Fever on Wednesday night.

Wilson hit a jumper from the free throw line with 26.4 seconds left in the second quarter to surpass the previous mark of 939 points set by Jewell Loyd in 2023. The Aces’ two-time league MVP came into the game averaging 27.3 points and 11.9 rebounds.


She finished the game with 27 points and 12 rebounds as Las Vegas won 86-75. Wilson credited her teammates for helping her break the record.

“I don’t want to sound cliché when I say this but, I don’t get any of that without every single teammate along the way. I’m so grateful to be able to play with selfless women,” she said. “My teammates are the heartbeat. They keep me going. I don’t get any points without them passing me the basketball.


U.S. women’s basketball team defeats France to win eighth straight Olympic gold medal
“So the points are great. They’re always going to be there. I’m never going to stop shooting, but the group that we have in this locker room is something that I’m truly so happy to be around.”

Wilson needed just 35 games to top last year’s record by Loyd, who did it in 38 games. Wilson’s previous high was 912 points, set in 40 games last season.

She now has 956 points this season and could potentially be the first player in league history to reach 1,000 in a year.

Las Vegas Aces make WNBA history as first team to sell out season tickets
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Las Vegas Aces make WNBA history as first team to sell out season tickets
She missed the team’s previous game in New York on Sunday as she was recovering from an ankle injury she suffered against Connecticut last Friday night.

“Feels great, ’cause now people will stop talking about it,” Wilson said. “I felt like it was just lingering, lingering, lingering, so I’m glad that we got it done. It’s been a lot of fun.”

The Aces have four games left, including another one against the Fever on Friday night.

Aryna Sabalenka wins US Open over American Jessica Pegula for third grand slam singles title

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By Andy Scholes and Jill Martin, CNN

Aryna Sabalenka would not be denied hoisting the US Open championship trophy this year.

Sabalenka, the world No. 2 from Belarus, defeated American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to win the US Open for the first time.

This is Sabalenka’s third career grand slam singles title, having won the Australian Open for the second consecutive year back in January. She’s the first woman to sweep the hard court grand slams since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

After winning championship point, Sabalenka fell to the court, overcome with emotion. She went on to thank the crowd for their support.

Aryna Sabalenka kisses the trophy after winning the US Open for the first time.
Aryna Sabalenka kisses the trophy after winning the US Open for the first time. Frank Franklin II/AP
“You were cheering for me on those good moments,” Sabalenka said. “Of course I expected you to cheer for Jessica. I mean, that wouldn’t be normal if you would cheer for me, you know?”

This was the second year in a row Sabalenka reached the US Open final. A year ago, she lost to Coco Gauff, and the New York crowd was not on the Belarusian’s side, loudly pulling for the American.

“So many times I was so close to get a US Open title,” Sabalenka said, who also had heartbreaking losses in 2021 and 2022 in the semifinals. “It’s always been a dream of mine. Finally, I got this beautiful trophy.”

Sabalenka admitted the crowd affected her in that 2023 final – and she had resolved that wouldn’t happen to her again.

“I would say that this year, I felt so much love from the crowd,” Sabalenka told CNN. “Even though I was facing Americans, they still were supporting, cheering for me a little bit.

“I felt like last year there was kind of like close to zero on my side, and this year I felt a lot of support, even in the finals. I’m just super happy to feel so much love in New York.”

Sabalenka reflected on what her success meant to her. “Well, after I lost my father, it’s always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis,” she said.

“Every time I see my name on that trophy, I’m so proud of myself, I’m proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going.”

Sabalenka, 26, has now won 12 consecutive matches and improves her head-to-head record against Pegula to 6-2.

While the scoreline was straight sets, it wasn’t exactly straightforward.

Sabalenka led by a set and 3-0, but Pegula went on to win the next five games to give the American a 5-3 second-set lead.

Sabalenka would not give Pegula a chance to force a third set, however, winning the next four games to close out the match.

Sabalenka was asked how she was going to celebrate with her team. “A lot of drinks,” she said to CNN. “I need to feel this relief. I hope we’re going to have a lot of fun with my team.”

USA’s Jessica Pegula serves to Belarus’s Aryna Sabalenka during their women’s final match on day thirteen of the US Open tennis tournament at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, on September 7, 2024. (Photo by Kena Betancur / AFP) (Photo by KENA BETANCUR/AFP via Getty Images)
Jessica Pegula was competing in her first grand slam singles final. Kena Betancur/AFP/Getty Images
Pegula, meanwhile, had made a breakthrough at this year’s US Open. Previously, the 30-year-old’s best result at a major was reaching the quarterfinals, where she had been 0-6 at that stage. With her result in New York, she will rise from No. 6 to No. 3 in the world, matching her career-high ranking.

Pegula had missed a portion of the schedule earlier this season, including the French Open, because of injury. But during the North American hard court swing this summer, Pegula found her stride, going 15-2.

Those two losses were to Sabalenka: in the Cincinnati Open final last month and Saturday in her first grand slam singles final.

“It’s been an incredible month for me, really,” Pegula said. “I had a rough start to the year but was really able to turn it around. To be able to be standing here in my first grand slam final, and then coming off such a hot summer, I didn’t expect it. I’m just really grateful for the last few weeks of tennis and some incredible matches I’ve been able to put together.”

Pegula, who is a Buffalo native, is the daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and NHL’s Buffalo Sabres. She was introduced to tennis by her family at age 7, and she recently said getting to the US Open final was “a childhood dream.”

When Pegula entered the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium for the final, she notably removed her headphones, appearing to soak in the crowd noise after she had been introduced.

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