Jessica Pegula shook off a sluggish start to the U.S. Open, rallying from a set and a break down to beat Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 on Thursday night at Arthur Ashe Stadium to reach her first Grand Slam final.
The sixth-seeded Pegula, a 30-year-old from New York, has won 15 of her last 16 matches and will play second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Saturday.
Sabalenka, runner-up to Coco Gauff last year at Flushing Meadows, held off a late rally to beat No. 13 Emma Navarro of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (2) to reach the final.
Things initially looked unpromising for Pegula, the 2023 French Open runner-up but unseeded after missing about 10 months due to wrist surgery, but Muchova displayed all the versatility and creativity that make her so difficult to deal with on any surface.
Slices. Touches at the net. Serve and volley. Ten of the first 12 winners of the match came from her racquet. The first set lasted 28 minutes, with Muchova winning 30 of 44 points.
Muchova won eight of the first nine games and came within a point of taking a 3-0 lead in the second set, but then failed to convert a break chance and missed a forehand volley that changed everything.
Muchova, ranked 52nd in the world, went from not being able to miss a shot to not being able to hit one in an instant.
And Pegula played confident tennis, defeating five-time major champion and world number one Iga Swiatek in straight sets on Wednesday.
Prior to this breakthrough, Pegula was 0-6 in major quarterfinals.
It took Pegula a while to play that well on Thursday, but once she got going, she played really well.
In the end, she won nine of the 11 games, a period that allowed her to not only turn the second set around but also take a 3-0 lead in the third.
