Pegula Defeats Muchova To Set Up Final Clash With Sabalenka

Jessica Pegula produced an impressive fight back to defeat Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 to qualify for her first major final at the ongoing 2024 U.S. Open.

Pegula had lost her past six major quarter-finals before Iga Swiatek on Thursday for a place in the semi-finals .

Pegula will play second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the championship match on Saturday.

She described the feeling of qualifying for her first major final as a fulfilment of a childhood dream.

Pedula said, “It’s a childhood dream, It’s what I wanted when I was a kid, and after a tough first half of the year that included two months out because of injury, she could scarcely believe the scale of her achievement.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals of the U.S. Open, I would have laughed so hard. I was not thinking that I would be here.

“To be able to overcome all those challenges, say that I get a chance at the title Saturday… It’s what we play for as players. Let alone in my home country, in my home Slam. It’s perfect, really.”

Similarly, Second seed Aryna Sabalenka qualified for her second straight U.S. Open final with a 6-3 7-6 victory over Emma Navarro.

She is the first women’s player since Serena Williams in 2019 to reach back-to-back singles finals at Flushing Meadows.

Sabalenka admitted she learned from her mistakes at the last U.S Open to hold on for a place in the final.

She said, “Last year, it was a very tough experience, a very tough lesson, today in the match, I was, like, ‘No, no, no, Aryna, it’s not going to happen again. You have to control your emotions. You have to focus on yourself.

“There were people supporting me. I was trying to focus on them. I’m thinking, ‘Come on, there are so many people supporting you. There is your team in the box. There is your family. Just focus on yourself and fight for it.”

The final would take place on Saturday evening.

Pegula Defeats Muchova To Set Up Final Clash With Sabalenka is first published on The Whistler Newspaper