The cheers of home fans reverberated through Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday as Jessica Pegula orchestrated a remarkable comeback to defeat Karolina Muchova 1-6 6-4 6-2, securing a spot in her first Grand Slam final against Aryna Sabalenka. The possibility of an all-American final had already been dashed when Belarusian Sabalenka earlier defeated Emma Navarro 6-3 7-6(2), leaving the host nation's representation in the title match in doubt. In her maiden major semi-final, Pegula initially appeared out of her depth against Muchova, but she managed to turn the tide on the unseeded Czech.
"It boils down to really small moments that shift momentum," Pegula remarked. "She made me look like a novice... I was on the verge of tears because it was humiliating." I began to play the way I wanted to... It took some time, but I honestly don't know how I turned it around." Pegula could only muster three winners in the first set as Muchova, despite her recent return from a wrist injury that kept her sidelined for about 10 months, showed no signs of rust. With the notoriously boisterous main court eerily silent, the Czech seemed poised to dominate the rest of the match after taking a 2-0 lead in the second set. However, Pegula gradually regained her form, which had seen her win 14 of her previous 15 matches, breaking Muchova in the fourth and sixth games. Muchova broke back in the seventh game, but her errors were mounting, and she revealed her nerves by double faulting on set point, giving Pegula an opportunity she did not squander.
Energized by the crowd, Pegula cruised through the first three games of a nearly flawless final set and triumphantly raised her hands in the air after breaking Muchova on her second match point with a superb forehand return. Earlier, Sabalenka, the runner-up to American Coco Gauff last year, relied on her superior power to subdue the 13th seed Navarro, delivering 34 winners and sealing the match with a satisfying overhead smash on match point. Navarro, who had eliminated Gauff in the fourth round, was no match for the two-time Australian Open champion, even with a passionate home crowd cheering her on. Sabalenka, who playfully offered the crowd a free round of drinks if they supported her over the home favorite, teased the fans after her victory.
"Now you're cheering for me - wow - it's a bit late," she said. "Even though you guys were supporting her, I had goosebumps. She's such a great player, really tough opponent." Sabalenka wrested momentum. The pair exchanged breaks early in the first set, but Sabalenka quickly found her footing and seized control in the sixth game, breaking Navarro with a forehand winner before extinguishing her break-point chance in the seventh with an unreturnable serve. Navarro injured her knee midway through the second set while chasing a shot, and Sabalenka appeared poised to cruise to victory when an error by the American allowed her to break in the fifth game. The 13th seed refused to go down without a fight, applying pressure from the baseline to break back in the 10th game and forcing a tiebreak. Sabalenka, once notorious for her meltdowns, gave a sarcastic thumbs up to her team after going 2-0 down in the tiebreak with a double fault but quickly regained focus, winning an 18-shot rally at the net en route to victory.
"I'm really happy to see that in those crucial moments I'm able to stay focused and just try to do my best and focus on my tennis," Sabalenka said. "Even if things aren't going well for me, I still keep doing the right things and I'm staying in control." Navarro's loss was the second disappointment for the home fans on Thursday after Italians Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori ended the all-American pair Taylor Townsend and Donald Young's fairy-tale run in the mixed doubles final 7-6(0) 7-5.
