Jessica Pegula is through to her first Grand Slam final after upsetting Karolina Muchova in the last four at her home US Open. The American won 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in nearly two hours and 15 minutes of play.
The 30-year-old Pegula, who is in great form and has won 15 of her last 16 matches in all competitions, was beaten by the Czech in the opening set. That happened after Muchova saved three break points in the third game. From then on, there was only one tennis player on the court. Muchova's momentum continued at the start of the second set with another break, but this time Pegula rallied and returned the break. The American made another break, but her opponent came back. It came to the tenth game, in which Muchova lost composure and parity was restored. In the deciding third set, Pegula started with an early break and never looked back and is already thinking about Saturday night's final.
Her opponent there will be world number 2 Aryna Sabalenka. The Australian Open champion reached a second consecutive New York final after stopping host Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2).
Navarro, who earlier dethroned last year's champion Coco Gauff, got off to a nervous start and was broken early but broke back. However, Sabalenka took the lead again with a break and this time she did not allow a comeback. The second set was decided by a tiebreak after the two exchanged one break each. The Belarusian was unable to close the match at 5-4 and serve. In the tiebreak Navarro took a 2-0 lead, but did not take any more points for the rest of the match and was eliminated in her debut Slam semi-final appearance. Sabalenka, on the other hand, will play for the third major title.
The women's world number two and Pegula met most recently in the final in Cincinnati, where Sabalenka upset the American. Pegula previously won the tournament in Toronto. The women's final of the US Open is on Saturday, September 7, at 23:00 Bulgarian time. | BGNES
