The 2024 US Open ladies’s singles ultimate is about: Aryna Sabalenka will face Jessica Pegula on Saturday night from Arthur Ashe Stadium. Whoever comes out on high shall be profitable their first title on the US Open, the ultimate Grand Slam of the yr.
Sabalenka punched her ticket right here with a straight-sets semifinal victory over No. 13 Emma Navarro (6-3, 7-6(2)) whereas Pegula wanted three to down Karolina Munchova in her penultimate matchup, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Sabalenka, 26, shall be attempting for her third ever Grand Slam victory and her first in New York. After a stellar 2023 marketing campaign that noticed her win the Australian Open and make the semifinals of all 4 Grand Slams — the primary particular person since Serena Williams (2016) to take action in a single season — she finally fell to Coco Gauff within the ultimate.
That loss was only a setback although, as she’d go on to begin the Slam season off this yr with one other title in Australia, her second main win. She’s presently ranked second on the earth in singles play, and shall be favored within the ultimate on Saturday, although that loss to Gauff has and can proceed to come back up given how a lot Sabalenka struggled in that matchup.
Actually, it was a serious concern on the tail-end of Thursday’s semifinal, when she was up a set on Navarro. Sabalenka went from being in full management of the match, to falling down a number of breaks within the second set. That finally ended together with her battling again and forcing a tiebreak, which she gained, nonetheless. Regardless of hitting 34 winners and profitable on 74 % of her first serves, she nonetheless hit 34 unforced errors to Navarro’s 13.
Pegula, 30, is the sixth-ranked girl on the earth in the intervening time. She’s performed a number of the finest tennis of her profession over the previous few years, however that is the furthest she’s made it at a Grand Slam. Her finest finishes on the Australian Open, French Open, and Wimbledon are all quarterfinals, making her house turf on the US Open her finest Slam. She actually had the gang behind her for Thursday’s match.
Pegula held her very first service recreation towards Muchova, however issues shortly received out of hand for her. Muchova wanted simply 28 minutes to take the primary set, profitable each recreation after Pegula’s first service. She transformed on two of three break makes an attempt, whereas Pegula got here up quick on all three of her’s. Pegula seemed drained greater than something, which isn’t unusual this late within the season.
However not too drained to come back roaring again, because it seems. She began off the second set getting damaged shortly, however then held twice whereas breaking Muchova consecutive occasions to get out to a lead, and ultimately the set victory, forcing a 3rd. It’s at this level that it actually seems like Muchova is the one who ran out of fuel. The third set went very equally to the primary, with Pegula popping out on high for the victory.
Pegula’s run via has been sturdy, although going into the semifinal, she had solely confronted one seeded opponent. It simply so occurs that the seeded opponent was high seed Iga Swiatek, who Pegula downed in straight units, 6-2, 6-4.
Sabalenka’s run via the event additionally included straight-set victories over No. 7 Qinwen Zheng within the quarterfinals and No. 33 Elise Mertens within the Spherical of 16.
The ladies’s singles bracket will wrap up on Saturday, with the lads’s bracket concluding with the remainder of the event on Sunday. The ladies’s ultimate is about for 4 p.m. ET from Arthur Ashe Stadium, and shall be broadcast on ESPN and ESPN Deportes, with reside streaming accessible through ESPN Plus and anyplace that carries ESPN. Under is the complete schedule in addition to each competitor’s path via the US Open so far.
US Open tennis ladies’s singles ultimate
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Jessica Pegula (Saturday, 4 p.m. ET)
No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka’s path to the ultimate
def. Priscilla Hon, 6-3, 6-3
def. Lucia Bronzetti, 6-3, 6-1
def. No. 29 Ekaterina Alexandrova 2-6, 1-6, 6-2
def. No. 33 Elise Mertens, 6-2, 6-4
def. No. 7 Qinwen Zheng, 6-1, 6-2
def. No. 13 Emma Navarro, 6-3, 7-6(2)
No. 6 Jessica Pegula’s path to the semifinal
def. Shelby Rogers 6-4, 6-3
def. Sofia Kenin, 7-6(4), 6-3
def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, 6-3, 6-3
def. Diana Shnaider, 6-4, 6-2
def. No. 1 Iga Swiatek, 6-2, 6-4
def. Karolina Muchova, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2
