Women's world number one and defending US Open champion Aryna Sabalenka has beaten American Jessica Pegula — and the crowd — to advance to the final at Flushing Meadows.
In a rematch of last year's final, Sabalenka and Pegula delivered fierce groundstrokes, brilliant play and nerves in a dramatic semifinal before the Belarusian top seed prevailed 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Sabalenka had the easier preparation, receiving a walkover into the semifinal after Marketa Vondrousova had a flare up of a knee injury in practice and withdrew before the match.
However Sabalenka took a while to hit her stride on Arthur Ashe Stadium before making the break and then consolidating for a 4-2 lead.
But then, buoyed by vocal home court support, Pegula reeled off four straight games to take the opening set 6-4.
The second set saw the momentum swing again, with Sabalenka finding her feet and crushing 15 winners to seven for Pegula, as she fought back to level the match six games to three.
The final set saw the tension ratchet up a few notches, as Sabalenka got the early break in the opening game.
The crowd were willing Pegula to find a way back to get the answering break, but every time she created a break point chance, her opponent found a winner, usually painting the lines with incredibly accurate and powerful groundstrokes.
As time ran out, Pegula tried desperately to get the break but after a dramatic final game, the champion crushed one last forehand into the corner and took the match in 2 hours and 5 minutes.
When it ended on Sabalenka's third match point — after two bad errors on her initial chances — she rocked back on her heels, spread her arms and screamed.
Sabalenka moved one victory away from becoming the first woman to claim consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams clinched three in a row from 2012 to 2014.
On Saturday, Sabalenka will meet eighth seed Amanda Anisimova or 23rd seed Naomi Osaka for the trophy .
This match-up was much closer than the straight-set triumph for Sabalenka over Pegula 12 months ago that gave the 27-year-old from Belarus her third Grand Slam title, all on hard courts.
Since then, Sabalenka was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June, then was eliminated in the Wimbledon semifinals by Anisimova in July.
ABC/AP
