Defending champ Sabalenka outlasts Pegula to reach US Open final

NEW YORK (AP) — Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was simply too good for Jessica Pegula yet again, winning their U.S. Open semifinal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday night in a rematch of last year's final.

The No. 1-seeded Sabalenka moved one victory away from becoming the first woman to claim consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams got three in a row from 2012 to 2014.

On Saturday, Sabalenka will meet No. 8 Amanda Anisimova or No. 23 Naomi Osaka for the trophy.

This matchup was quite close, far closer than the straight-set triumph for Sabalenka over Pegula 12 months ago that gave the 27-year-old from Belarus her third Grand Slam title, all on hard courts.

Since then, Sabalenka was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June, then was eliminated in the Wimbledon semifinals by Anisimova in July.

When this one ended on Sabalenka's third match point — after two bad errors on her initial chances — she rocked back on her heels, spread her arms and screamed.

“I had to work really hard to get this win,” she said in her on-court interview after improving to 8-2 against Pegula over their careers. “Hopefully I can go all the way again.”

Arthur Ashe Stadium’s retractable roof was shut before the semifinals began, which prevented disruption from the wind outside gusting at up to 30 mph and the rain that arrived during play.

In the good, indoor conditions, No. 4 Pegula played about as cleanly as possible in the first set and the third, making just three unforced errors in each. But in the second, that count was nine.

By the end, Sabalenka had accumulated more than twice as many winners as Pegula, 43-21.

All evening, Pegula went after her returns, taking big cuts and not playing it safe, by any means. This, then, was the key: Sabalenka was able to save all four break points she faced in the final set, when the stakes — and tension — were highest.

Asked how she managed to handle those moments, Sabalenka replied with a laugh: “I don't know. I was just praying inside and hoping for the best.”

Hard to believe the serve was once a real problem for Sabalenka. But she began retooling her motion in 2022 with a biomechanics coach, Gavin MacMillan, who was hired by Gauff just before this U.S. Open.

In her first two service games alone, Sabalenka delivered one ace at 114 mph and a couple of winners at 109 mph and 117 mph.

Entering Thursday, neither player had lost a set in the tournament, although Sabalenka only needed to go through four matches, instead of five, to reach the semifinals, because her quarterfinal opponent, Marketa Vondrousova, withdrew with an injured knee.

That meant Sabalenka hadn’t competed since Sunday.

Might she be rusty? Sure didn’t look that way at the outset, and Sabalenka used a nifty drop-shot-volley-winner combination to help go up a break and grab a 4-2 lead.

But Pegula didn’t fold. In the next game, with the thousands in the stands roaring for every point gained by the American, Sabalenka netted off-balance groundstrokes on two points in a row and double-faulted to get broken right back.

Sabalenka shook her head and slammed her arms by her side. That ended a run of 32 consecutive holds for the 27-year-old from Belarus, and she draped a white towel over her head at the changeover. Pegula then broke again to cap a four-game run that wrapped up the set and, this time, Sabalenka quickly retrieved her bag and headed off to the locker room.

When she came back, Sabalenka elevated her play, although there still were signs of nerves.

A double-fault in the third set prompted her to flip her racket to the court. An overhead dumped into the net on the initial match point led Sabalenka to stare at the ground. On her next chance to close things, she put a volley into the bottom of the net, part of going just 15 for 27 when she pressed forward.

Still, she held on to beat Pegula, as she usually does, and now has the chance to play for another major title.

“It means a lot," Sabalenka said. "I will go out there on Saturday and I'll fight for every point like the last point of my life.”

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich.

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