NEW YORK – On Aryna Sabalenka’s first chance to end her US Open semi -final against Jessica Pegula for the chance to play for a second consecutive trophy, the defending champion dumped what an easy overhead should have been in the net and then stuck to the ground.
On the second chance of Sabalenka she missed an awkward volley and maybe she shouldn’t have even taken forward because she only went 15-out-27 when she went on the net. Uh, oh.
So good at important moments in the high effort, high voltage final set, Sabalenka held it together and held it, and converted her third match point on Thursday evening to close a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Pegula in a rematch of last year’s final.
“I was super emotional. I was just like:” Oh, my God, it doesn’t happen. Please do, just exclude this competition, “Sabalenka explained afterwards.” The entire game, I just keep telling myself: (in) the next, only one step at the same time, you don’t worry about the past. Just try it better in the next point. “
When it was over, Sabalenka fluctuated on her heels, spread her arms and shouted.
On Saturday, when she stands for number 8 Amanda Anisimova, the No. 1-ranking Sabalanka will try to become the first woman to claim successive championships in Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams received three in a row from 2012 to 2014.
“I had to work very hard to achieve this victory,” Sabalenka told Pegula for their career after improving 8-2. “Hopefully I can go completely again.”
Anisimova gathered for a 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-3 victory over the Japanese Naomi Osaka in the second semifinal. The American lost to Iga Swiatek 6-0, 6-0 in the final of Wimbledon.
The first semifinal on Thursday was quite close, much closer than the Straight-Set Triumph for Sabalenka about Pegula 12 months ago that the 27-year-old from Belarus gave her third Grand Slam title, all on hard courts.
Since then, Sabalenka was the second place of Madison Keys on the Australian Open in January and Coco Gauff in the French Open in June, was subsequently eliminated in the semi -final of Wimbledon by Anisimova in July.
The retractable roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium was closed before the semi -finals started, causing a disruption of the wind outside to 30 km / h and the rain that arrived during the game.
In the good, inner conditions, no. 4 Pegula played about as neatly as possible in the first set and the third, with only three casual mistakes in each. But in the second that count was nine.
Towards the end, Sabalenka had gathered more than twice as many winners as Pegula, 43-21.
“We pushed each other,” said Pegula, “every game.”
The entire evening Pegula went behind her return, took major cuts and did not play it safely in any way. This was then the key: Sabalenka was able to save all four breakpoints with which she was confronted in the last set.
“It was really high level. I don’t really know what else to say,” said Pegula, who wore a white jacket from New York Yankees and enjoyed a carrot beer lollipop at her news conference. “I don’t know how I didn’t broken back in the third.”
Asked how she managed to tackle those moments, Sabalenka replied with a smile: “Just pray inside and hope for the best.”
Neither they had nor Pegula lost a set in the tournament before Thursday, although Sabalenka only had to go through four games, instead of five, to reach the semi -final, because her quarterfinals opponent, Marketa Vondrousova, with an injured knee with an injured knee.
That meant that Sabalenka had not participated since Sunday.
Could she be rusty? Of course it didn’t look that way, and Sabalenka used a handy combination of Drop-Shot-Volley winner to help a break and take a 4-2 lead.
But Pegula did not fold. In the next game, with the thousands in the stands that roar for each point obtained by the American, Sabalenka delivered off-balance ground rails on two points in a row and double errors to be broken back immediately.
Sabalenka shook her head and hit her arms by her side. That put an end to her run of 32 consecutive postures, and she draped a white towel over her head at the switch. Pegula then broke again to lock up a four-game run that completed the set and this time Sabalenka quickly picked up her bag and went to the dressing room.
When she returned, Sabalenka raised her game – and stabiled her mind when needed.
“I will go outside on Saturday,” she said, “and I will fight for every point like the last point of my life.”
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