US Open: Sabalenka aims for a second crown in New York in the final against the American Pegula, carried by an entire country

La Bélarusse Aryna Sabalenka se qualifie pour sa deuxième finale à Ney York. MAXPPP – CJ GUNTHER

L'expérimentée Sabalenka part favorite, Pegula ambitionne un premier sacre en Grand Chelem. 

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (world No. 2) upheld the hierarchy by beating American Emma Navarro (12th) on Thursday in New York to reach her second consecutive final of the US Open tennis tournament, where she will meet another American, Jessica Pegula. Pegula (6th) defeated Czech Karolina Muchova (52nd) 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to qualify for her first Grand Slam final.

Sabalenka won in two sets 6-3, 7-6 (7/2) against Navarro and returns to the US Open final after her defeat against Coco Gauff last year. The Belarusian, a two-time winner of the Australian Open (2023 and 2024), will have the opportunity on Saturday to become the first player to win both Majors played on hard courts in the same season since Germany's Angelique Kerber in 2016.

After the elimination in the quarter-finals of world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, Aryna Sabalenka was the only player in the semi-finals who had already won a Grand Slam, and she showed it against Emma Navarro, a novice at this level of competition, breaking her serve at the first opportunity in the opening set.

Sabalenka the most experienced

Leading 5-3 in the second set, Sabalenka saw Navarro suddenly raise her level, more aggressive on the return and finding awkward angles for the Belarusian, who was broken while serving at 5-4 to win the match. Navarro, one of the revelations of the season with an eighth-final at Roland-Garros and a quarter-final at Wimbledon, who will enter the Top 10 on Monday (8th), thus pushed his opponent to the tie-break.

I improved my calm in key moments

The Belarusian was first guilty of a double fault (2-0 Navarro) before showing a superb level, with increasingly strong shots coupled with well-felt drop shots. “At the end of the second set I was a little emotionally affected, it reminded me of moments from last year's final, the encouragement from the crowd (for her American opponent)“, she explained.

“I worked hard on my state of mind during the matches, I improved my calm in key moments”, she further explained. Sabalenka, who arrived at Flushing Meadows on the back of a title at the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati, confirmed her ease in New York, with a new final, having played in the semi-finals of the last four editions.

Pegula is in great shape

She will once again face an American, Jessica Pegula, a player in great form, who has won 15 of her last 16 matches. Her only defeat came in the final of the WTA in Cincinnati in mid-August, precisely against Sabalenka who leads 5-2 in their confrontations. On Thursday, Pegula (30 years old), for her first semi-final in a Grand Slam, was first outclassed by Muchova, finalist at Roland-Garros last year, during a first set where the Czech's varied game was exceptional (6-1).

she made me look like a beginner, she destroyed me

“She started by playing incredibly well, she made me look like a beginner, she destroyed me”, Pegula admitted to the stadium microphone. The match turned when Muchova, who returned in June after a 10-month injury absence, missed a double break point at 2-0 in the second set, on a volley, having won all her points on her first-set net runs.

“I finally started to find my groove and by the end of the second set I started to play the way I wanted to,”, Pegula said. Her presence in the final ensures the United States has a representative in each singles final at its US Open, as Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz meet in the men's semifinals on Friday.