New York (AFP)
American Jessica Pegula, ranked sixth in the world, came from behind to beat Czech Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals of the US Open, the last of the four Grand Slam tournaments, to reach the first major final of her career, where she will face Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
After a disastrous start in the first set, where the home team was subjected to Muchova’s style of play, in addition to being 0-2 down at the start of the second, Pegula (30 years old) was able to return to the atmosphere of the match to “in the right time” turn the result against Muchova, ranked 52nd, in her favor in three sets.
She lost the first set in 28 minutes, and started the second by losing her serve and saving a ball when she was 0-3 down, before taking advantage of her opponent’s mistakes, while she appeared more solid in the depth of the court, and did not leave freedom of movement for the 28-year-old Czech.
“Mukhova started playing incredibly well, made me look like a beginner, and destroyed me,” Pegula admitted after the match.
“I finally started to find my groove, and at the end of the second set I started to play the way I wanted to play,” she continued.
Pegula has been on a good run of form lately, winning 15 of her last 16 matches, including a win in Toronto and her only loss coming in the Cincinnati Masters 1000 final in mid-August against Sabalenka.
Regarding her match in the final against the Belarusian ranked second in the world, she commented, “It will be difficult against Aryna Sabalenka. She is the favourite, and it is crazy to play against her again in the final. This shows our level.”
Sabalenka, 26, who is playing her second consecutive final in New York, is the favourite to win the US Open title for the first time in her career.
Sabalenka, who won the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024, reached the final after defeating American Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 in the other semi-final.
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