Aryna Sabalenka has become the first player since Serena Williams in 2018 and 2019 to make back-to-back US Open finals and there she will play against home favorite Jessica Pegula.
On Thursday, the No. 2 seed ousted rising American star Emma Navarro 6-3 7-6 (2) after firing eight aces and 34 minutes in exactly an hour and a half of play.
By overcoming the 23-year-old American, the Belarusian tennis star has been through to her fourth Grand Slam final and her second at Flushing Meadows.
Aryna SabalenkaĀ© YouTube screenshot
And there, the 2023 US Open runner-up will face Pegula, who came back from a set down to beat Karolina Muchova 1-6 6-4 6-2 in the other semifinal.
For the 30-year-old American, it will be her maiden final in a Major tournament and her eighth matchup with the current world No. 2, against who she has two wins and five losses.
How Sabalenka, Pegula won their US Open semifinal matches?
After blowing an early first-set break, the second-seeded Belarusian didn’t panic as she broke Navarro again in the sixth game and then held on to her serve for the rest of the set to clinch the opener.
In the second set, the world No. 2 had a 5-3 lead and appeared to be cruising toward a comfortable straight-set win but then failed to serve out for the match in the 10th game. But again, the two-time Grand Slam champion didn’t lose her focus as she won seven consecutive points from 0-2 down in the tie-break to complete the win.
Meanwhile in the semifinal that followed, the No. 6 seed made a horrendous start after the Czech won seven games in a row to go 6-1 2-0 up.
But just when it started to look like the former world No. 7 would get a very dominant win, Pegula stunningly responded with three breaks in the second set and earned two more in the decider to complete a huge comeback win.