Jessica Pegula is one win away from the US Open title.
The American came back from an early deficit to beat Karolina Muchova – 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 – in her semi-final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, booking her place in Saturday’s women’s singles final.
This is the first trip to a Grand Slam final for Pegula, who will face Aryna Sabalenka after the Belarusian star beat New York-born Emma Navarro in Thursday’s other semi-final.
Pegula’s chances of progressing looked slim after dropping the last five games of the first set and the first two games of the second. But Pegula kept control, winning 12 of the last 14 games of the match to advance against Czech-born Muchova.
Pegula, the Buffalo-born daughter of Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula, had not advanced past the quarterfinals of a major tournament before this Open.
She went through the first five rounds without dropping a set, a run that saw her eliminate top seed Iga Świątek in the quarterfinals on Wednesday night.
Pegula is hoping to become the sixth American woman to win the Open since 1998. The previous five have won 11 titles in that span, including Coco Gauff’s last year.
Muchova lost in last year’s Open semifinal to Gauff and then underwent wrist surgery in February. Like Pegula, Muchova, 28, had not dropped a set at this Open before Thursday’s semifinal. Her run included beating two-time Open champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
