: As she got broken serving for a place in the US Open final at 6-3, 5-4 to give Emma Navarro a lifeline and the American crowd its voice in backing one of their own, it rang a bell for Aryna Sabalenka. Last year, playing for the title in the same stadium, the Belarusian got swept away as Coco Gauff rode the wave of support from the home fans and turned a one-set drubbing into a three-set triumph.
It wouldn’t. The world No.2 shut out the noise and opened the door to another US Open final after the 6-3, 7-6(2) semi-final victory. This will be the two-time Australian Open champion’s second straight final appearance in the season-ending Grand Slam; the last woman to do so was Serena Williams five years ago.
Sabalenka appears wiser by the experience of last year, where she let the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd — which can be loud, ruthless and unabashed in picking sides — get to her head after having a grip on Gauff. Confronted by a similar situation against Navarro, she now got a grip on herself quickly. Even after that untimely break. Even after a double fault early in the tiebreaker. Lessons from the 2023 final were brought to the 2024 semi-final.
You have to control your emotions. You have to focus on yourself,” Sabalenka said.
She might well have to do it again on another Saturday night in New York. For, another American stands in the way of Sabalenka and the US Open title.
Jessica Pegula stood one point away from a potential point of no return down 1-6, 0-2, 30-40 when a brilliant get, followed by a botched volley at the net by Karolina Muchova, kept her in it. And off went the world No.6 charting a gritty comeback for a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 win and a first Slam final. The crowd got into the act here too, with the 30-year-old American saying they helped “get some adrenaline into me”.
