NEW YORK — Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 in a thrilling final of the US Open women’s singles tournament to win her first championship at Flushing Meadows and her third career Grand Slam title.

Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus, adds this trophy to the two she has won in the past two seasons at the Australian Open, also on hard courts. She is the fifth different woman to win the Australian Open and US Open in the same year since 1988, when the Australian major switched to hard courts.

Her victory allowed her to leave Arthur Ashe Stadium in a much better mood than when she finished runner-up to Coco Gauff at the 2023 US Open. Sabalenka is the first woman since Serena Williams in 2012 to win the US Open after losing in the final the year before.

The sixth-seeded Pegula, a 30-year-old New York native whose parents own the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres, was appearing in the first Grand Slam final of her career. She was 0-6 in the quarterfinals of the majors until knocking off No. 1 Iga Swiatek in that round on Wednesday.

She has won 15 of her last 17 matches in the past month, but lost both times to Sabalenka in the tournament final.

Second-seeded Sabalenka looked in complete control as she won five straight games to take the opening set and take a 3-0 lead in the second, before sixth-seeded Pegula made things even more interesting. In the next game, Pegula dropped a point and showed her frustration by hitting a ball off the video wall behind the baseline, dislodging a small square panel.

Perhaps that took some of the pressure off the 30-year-old American, as Pegula suddenly asserted herself, capitalizing on her own five-game run. But when she was serving at 5-4 with a chance to force a third set, Pegula let Sabalenka level the second with a break.

That was part of a three-game series that decided Sabalenka’s match. She soon collapsed on the court, dropping her racket and covering her face with both arms as she lay on her back.

Sabalenka ends the Grand Slam calendar having won 37 of the 40 sets she has played in majors this season (92.5%). That is the highest percentage of sets won in majors by a woman in a year since Justine Henin in 2007 (minimum 30 sets played).

The title match was played behind the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium after rain earlier Saturday. Among the spectators were Stephen Curry, Noah Lyles, Lewis Hamilton, Tina Fey, Anna Wintour and Andy Roddick, the last American to win a major.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.