By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) -World number one Aryna Sabalenka fought back to keep her U.S. Open title defence rolling on Thursday by beating American Jessica Pegula 4-6 6-3 6-4 in a pressure-packed semi-final.
The Belarusian recovered from a nervy start in a rematch of the 2024 finale, drowning out the partisan fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium and overwhelming the fourth seed with 43 winners and eight aces.
Pegula brought some of her best tennis to Flushing Meadows this year but after winning the first set she struggled to absorb the three-time major winner’s power.
“I really played great tennis. I think I handled that pressure really well,” said Sabalenka.
“The whole match I just keep telling myself, into the next one, just one step at a time, don’t worry about the past. Just try better in the next point.”
Pegula had just three unforced errors in the first set and got the upper hand after trading early breaks as Sabalenka sent a shot past the baseline on break point in the ninth game.
Sabalenka left the court before the second set and came back out of the tunnel with new resolve. She won the first three games, breaking the American with a forehand winner in the second, and upped her level across the board.
Sabalenka broke again in the opening game of the final set and showed her mettle as she fended off three break points in a marathon sixth.
Pegula had a bit more fight left in her, however, as she saved two match points before Sabalenka closed it out with a forehand winner and shouted at the top of her lungs in celebration.
The win gives Sabalenka another chance to secure her first major this season, after finishing runner-up at the Australian Open and French Open, and losing in the Wimbledon semi-finals.
“If I’ll be able to hold that trophy, it’s going to mean a lot for me. I’ll be just the happiest person on earth probably,” she told reporters.
Pegula also lost to Sabalenka in the Miami final earlier this year, we well as in the 2024 Cincinnati championship match, and now trails the Belarusian 2-8 in career head-to-head meetings.
“Strategically I played her much better than I have played her the last few times. I feel like going into the next match, I kind of know what I need to do. Obviously executing it is a different story,” she told reporters.
“It was too good from her today at some points.”
Sabalenka next plays either four-times Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka of Japan or American eighth seed Amanda Anisimova, as she bids to become the first woman to win back-to-back U.S. Open titles since Serena Williams in 2013 and 2014.
“I’ll go out there on Saturday and I’ll fight for every point like the last point of my life,” she said.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, additional reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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