Aryna Sabalenka’s grip on the US Open showed no sign of weakening on Thursday night as the two-time defending champion swept past Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 to move one win from a third straight title.
The top-seeded Belarusian star finished with 29 winners to Pegula’s 12, her relentless aggression turning what had been a 50-50 fight deep into the opening set into a one-sided affair that marked her 19th consecutive victory at Flushing Meadows.
“I don’t know who pissed her off today,” the third-seeded Pegula said. “Hopefully it wasn’t me totally, but might have been. I don’t know. She played insane. She played a super-high level. Honestly, I don’t really know if there was much I could do today.”
Sabalenka was inclined to agree. “I felt like whatever decision I would make, it is the right decision,” she said. “So I would definitely say that against Jess probably today, compared to the last matches we played, it was definitely the better level from me.”
There were only a handful of empty seats inside an electric Arthur Ashe Stadium for the opening leg of a women’s semi-final twin bill that marked the first time the top four women’s seeds had reached the last four at the US Open since 1975 – and the first time it had happened at any grand slam since Wimbledon in 2009.
Sabalenka, dressed in all black like the final boss she has become in New York, wasted no time trading hellfire with her American foe. They were level through eight games after only 25 minutes, with the average rally lasting just two and a half shots. Pegula stood up impressively to Sabalenka’s weight of shot, while the champion’s concussive power was offset by just enough errors to keep the opening set on a knife-edge.
Pegula took her first chance at 4-all. A Sabalenka double fault at deuce handed the American her first break point of the night and briefly brought the crowd of more than 20,000 fans to full throat. But Sabalenka saved it immediately with a blistering forehand winner, followed with a winning forehand volley and escaped with the hold.
“Even the break point, I hit a good return, and she just rips a forehand cross,” Pegula said. “It was rough today. I did my best. I thought I didn’t play bad.”
Then, in the blink of an eye, the set was over. With Pegula serving at 5-6, Sabalenka abruptly found another gear, ripping a backhand winner after an eight-shot exchange, drawing an error after another eight-shot rally and crushing a forehand winner off a second serve to reach 0-40. Pegula saved the first set point but not the second, and a set that had been dead even moments earlier belonged to Sabalenka after 43 minutes.
Sabalenka, going about her work like she had a cab waiting out front, carried her brisk pace into the second. Pegula held for 1-all, but two games later Sabalenka began attacking her opponent’s second serve, eventually breaking on her fourth opportunity with another forehand winner. She consolidated for 4-1 and never let up, breaking Pegula again in the final game to complete a victory that over 1hr 20min had gone from tightly wound to emphatic. Sabalenka never dropped serve all night and faced only one break point.
“I tried to stick around to see if the level would go off,” said Pegula, who won only five of 19 points on her second serve, which effectively made the difference. “But it seemed like it just got better as the match went on.”
For the third straight September, Pegula had arrived deep into the second week in New York only to find the same obstacle in her path. And for the third straight year, Sabalenka found a way through. Their emerging US Open rivalry launched with Sabalenka’s 7-5, 7-5 victory in the 2024 final. Twelve months later Pegula pushed her considerably harder, taking the opening set before Sabalenka recovered for a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 semi-final victory on her way to successfully defending her crown.
Thursday’s proceedings were considerably more straightforward, extending Sabalenka’s remarkable command of the hard courts in New York.
Sabalenka said the memory of losing to Pegula on grass in Berlin this summer had sharpened her concentration. “It really make me feel like I have little chances today in a way, but also, I knew that I have to be focused from the beginning until the end,” she said. “I think that really helped me to be that focused and to perform at that level.”
The 28-year-old is now one step away from becoming the third woman to win three straight US Open titles after Chris Evert and Serena Williams. She has reached the final on each of her past four appearances here, a run that began with her defeat by Coco Gauff in the 2023 championship match.
There has been little evidence of vulnerability during this fortnight. Sabalenka swept through Camila Osorio, Polina Iatcenko, Kamilla Rakhimova and Taylor Townsend without dropping a set before surviving her first serious examination against Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova in Tuesday’s quarter-final, coming through 7-6, 3-6, 7-6 after 2hr 22min.
Sabalenka will face Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s final, with considerably more than another trophy at stake. Rybakina’s run to the semi-finals has already guaranteed that Sabalenka’s 99-week stay at world No 1 will end when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Asked how she felt about potentially winning the tournament while nevertheless surrendering the top ranking, Sabalenka’s initial response was to the point: “I don’t care.” She then added: “Not much I could do about that, but I can only focus on myself and just stay in the moment and trying to do my best right now.”
The ranking may be gone. The US Open title, for at least one more match, remains hers to defend.
