NEW YORK: American Jessica Pegula mounted an astonishing fight back after a disastrous opening set to beat Czech Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 and reach her first major final at the US Open on Thursday.
Virtually nothing was going right for the sixth seed early on, but she tamed her nerves to take control and the cheers of the home crowd echoed through Arthur Ashe Stadium as she thrust her hands in the air after breaking her opponent on match point.
Muchova spent 10 months on the sidelines after injuring her wrist at the tournament a year ago and enjoyed an inspired run through New York before losing steam against the home hope.
Pegula will play second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match on Saturday.
Second seed Aryna Sabalenka charged into her second straight US Open final, overcoming a late fightback from American Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6(2).
The runner-up last year relied on her superior power to subdue the 13th seeded Navarro, sending over 34 winners, and she closed it out with a satisfying overhead smash on match point.
Navarro took out the defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round but was outmatched against the major veteran Sabalenka, even with a passionate home crowd urging her on.
Sabalenka, who jokingly offered the crowd a free round of drinks if they supported her over the home hope, teased the fans after the win: “Now you’re cheering for me - wow - it’s a bit late.”
A dejected Emma Navarro waves to the crowd as she walks off the court.
“Even though you guys were supporting her I had the goosebumps,” she said.
“She’s such a great player, really tough opponent.”
Navarro beat her on the hard court in three sets at Indian Wells this year and the pair looked to be in store for another big battle as they traded breaks early in the first set.
But the Belarusian calmed her nerves and wrested the momentum in the sixth game, getting the critical break with a forehand winner before extinguishing Navarro’s break point chance in the seventh with an unreturnable serve.
Navarro bloodied her knee midway through the second set chasing a shot and Sabalenka looked ready to cruise to victory when the American helped her to a break with a backhand error in the fifth game.
But Navarro refused to go down without a fight, applying pressure from the baseline to break back in the 10th game.
Sabalenka gave a sarcastic thumbs up to her coach’s box after allowing Navarro to go up 2-0 with a double fault in the tiebreak. But she got down to business from there, winning an 18-shot rally at the net en route to the victory. Agencies
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