Aryna Sabalenka snaps 10-year streak of first-time singles Grand Slam champions in WTA after breaking Jessica Pegula's heart in US Open final
Aryna Sabalenka finally got over the hump at the US Open and won her maiden Grand Slam title in New York in 2024. Consequently, she ended a 10-year streak of first-time Grand Slam champions in women's tennis.
Aryna Sabalenka faced Jessica Pegula in the final of the 2024 US Open on September 7. Both women displayed their peak abilities in an enthralling contest. Pegula got off the block quickly with a break of Sabalenka's serve in the first set, but the Belarusian pegged her back and eventually took the one-set lead.
Sabalenka continued her great form in the early stages of the second set, but this time, Pegula recovered well to keep things at bay. However, the Belarusian turned up the heat at the later stages to win four games on the trot and win the title 7-5, 7-5. In the process, she halted Pegula from winning her maiden singles Grand Slam title.
With Aryna Sabalenka winning her third Grand Slam singles title at the US Open, 2024 has become the first year since 2014 that women's tennis saw no first-time singles Major champion. This year, Sabalenka won her second Major at the Australian Open, Iga Swiatek completed a hattrick of Roland Garros titles, and Barbora Krejčíková picked up her second singles Grand Slam at the Wimbledon Championships.
In 2014, Li Na won her second Major at the Australian Open, and Maria Sharapova lifted her fifth and final Grand Slam at the French Open. Petra Kvitova was the title holder at Wimbledon for the second time in her career, and Serena Williams won her sixth and last US Open title.
Before Aryna Sabalenka at US Open 2024, WTA saw 18 first-time Major singles champions from 2015 to 2023
Women's tennis witnessed a first-time Grand Slam champion in the singles category every year from 2015 to 2023. The first one on this list was Flavia Pennetta, who won her only singles Major title at the 2015 US Open. She was followed by Angelique Kerber at the 2016 Australian Open and Garbine Muguruza at the 2016 French Open.
In 2017, Jelena Ostapenko and Sloane Stephens won their maiden singles Grand Slams at the French Open and US Open, respectively. There were three first-time Major winners in 2018: Caroline Wozniacki in Melbourne, Simona Halep in Paris, and Naomi Osaka in New York. Ashleigh Barty picked up the first of her three Majors at the 2019 French Open, and Bianca Andreescu was the winner of the US Open in the same year.
In 2020, Sofia Kenin became the first American woman in three years to win a Grand Slam when she won the Australian Open. Iga Swiatek also began her Grand Slam title journey in 2020 at the French Open. 2021 saw Barbora Krejčíková and Emma Raducanu take home the titles in Paris and New York, respectively.
A year later, Elena Rybakina became a Major champion at Wimbledon. 2023 saw three first-time Grand Slam singles champions in WTA: Aryna Sabalenka at the Australian Open, Marketa Vondrousova at Wimbledon, and Coco Gauff at the US Open.