After losing to Gauff in last year’s final, a tearful Sabalenka admitted she had struggled to deal with the crowd, later saying the noise was so loud it “blocked my ears”.

The atmosphere was no different this time around, with Pegula receiving the majority of the support from the packed 23,000-seater stadium.

There were times when Sabalenka looked like the occasion would again get the better of her as she hit 34 unforced errors and five double faults.

Once the type of player who failed to keep her emotions in check, she has taken active steps to strengthen her mentality, including working with a psychologist, to become one of the most consistent competitors on the WTA Tour.

With injuries disrupting her season – she struggled with a stomach problem at the French Open before a shoulder issue ruled her out of Wimbledon – Sabalenka has got back on track with successive titles after beating Pegula in the final of last month’s Cincinnati Open.

“I wish she would have at least let me get one set. We had a tough match in Cincinnati a few weeks ago and she’s one of the best in the world,” Pegula said.

“She’s super powerful and isn’t going to give you anything, she can take the racquet out of your hand.”

Sabalenka’s victory in New York sees her become the first player to win both hard-court Slams in the same year since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

Ian Dennis

Even before we had gone live on air for 5 Live, it was noticeable how involved Lee Carsley was with the warm-up.

The interim head coach even placed the red and white cones out in the England half of the field.

He was waiting on the pitch as a solitary figure before the players came out to warm up.

Carsley was actively involved along with his assistants Ashley Cole and Joleon Lescott. It’s a significant change in approach to that of Gareth Southgate or previous managers.

I even remember Fabio Capello, when he was England head coach, watching intently from the sidelines along with his assistant Franco Baldini – but they would study and monitor the opposition.

Carsley was purely focused on his England players and looked comfortable as a tracksuit manager.

John Murray

If you were looking for a different approach from Lee Carsley, it was there right from the start. There was an initial mis-step when he turned right to the home dugout when he first walked down the tunnel, but it was a tracksuited Carsley who laid out the balls and the cones and oversaw the whole of the warm-up.

It served to underline how he wishes to be seen very much as the head coach. And if England replicate the first-half performance, he will not be interim for too much longer.

Finlay Graham, Emma Wiggs and Charlotte Henshaw won gold medals on Saturday morning at the 2024 Paralympics in Paris, taking Great Britain’s tally to 45.

Graham, 24, won the men’s C1-3 road race, while Wiggs, 44, was victorious in the women’s VL2 200m Va’a Single final.

Henshaw, 37, continued GB’s Para-canoe success, winning the women’s VL3 Single final, where there was also a silver medal for Hope Gordon. David Phillipson took silver in the men’s KL2 Single final.

Daniel Powell has guaranteed himself at least a silver medal in the men’s -90kg men’s J1 judo.

In Para-equestrian, Sophie Wells won the bronze medal in the Grade V individual freestyle event.

Great Britain now have a total of 106 medals at the Paralympics, including those 45 golds. Only China, with 85 golds and 195 total medals, have more.