Top seed Aryna Sabalenka stayed on course for a third consecutive US Open crown on Thursday, storming into the final with a straight sets demolition of American third seed Jessica Pegula.
The 28-year-old Belarusian, bidding to join Chris Evert and Serena Williams as the only women to win three straight US Open titles, swatted aside Pegula with a dominant service game and a fearsome array of powerful groundstrokes. “I lost a tough match on grass against Jess, and I wasn’t really performing well in the middle part of the season.
“I wanted it so badly,” she said. Sabalenka will face the winner of Thursday’s other semi-final between second seed Elena Rybakina or fourth seed Coco Gauff.
Both players gave away little in the first set, serving superbly to keep the match on serve until the 12th game, with Sabalenka leading 6-5.
“I thought her level was insanely high,” Pegula said. Sabalenka, who sent down seven aces and 29 winners, said she was “desperate” for the win. On the evidence of her semi-final win, Sabalenka will head into the final bristling with confidence after producing her best performance of the tournament to snuff out Pegula’s dream of a first ever Grand Slam title. Pegula, who posted a dominant victory over Sabalenka on grass in Berlin this year as the Belarusian struggled through the summer, thought it was the best match Sabalenka had played all year. “Maybe she felt a little bit off at the beginning, but I feel like we were both playing well, serving well … she played insane. She played a super high level.
