Last year an American woman destroyed her "American dream", this time she did not allow it.
Arina Sabeljenko is the new queen of New York, the girl from Minsk is the champion of the US Open - the second tennis player in the world in the final at "Arthur Ashe" defeated the local hope Jessica Pegul - 7:5, 7:5.
12 months ago, Arina was defeated by Koko Goff in the final, but she did not give her new rival from the United States many chances - for the third Grand Slam in the career of the brilliant 26-year-old champion, and the first outside the Australian Open.
"This wonderful trophy is finally in my hands, all this means a lot to me - I am speechless. I often try to remember the hard defeats in this tournament and I always say that you should never give up on your dreams - when you work hard they have to will come true one day," Sabaljenka said after her triumph in the final.
On the other hand, even at the age of 31, the local heroine did not manage to realize her dream and enter among the immortals at the four biggest tournaments, although this time she skipped the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam for the first time in her career, she was in the grand final for the first time...
In the first set, after the two rivals took each other's serve twice, Arina reached the key break when it was sweetest - for 7:5 and 1:0 in the sets.
All that Sabaljenka brought in today's tennis was the second set - the Belarusian led 3:0, Pegula showed character and went 5:3 with five tied games, but Arina reminded everyone in the most difficult moments how strong she is.
First, she returned the break with a powerful forehand and equalized at 5:5, to save her serve until the end, and then used the second match point for a great victory.
How dominant she looked this year in New York is best shown by the fact that she lost only one set and that in the third round against Ekaterina Aleksandrova.
And the fact that she is currently the most dominant figure in women's tennis shows that she has won three of the last eight Grand Slam tournaments.
It was a dream year for Arina Sabaljenko - a year in which two of the four Grand Slam cups ended up in her hands.
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