Aryna Sabalenka advances to women’s final
New York-On Aryna Sabalenka’s first chance to put an end to her American semi-final against Jessica Pegula to have the chance to play for a second consecutive trophy, the title champion threw what should have been an easy above in the net, then looked at the ground.
Sabalenka’s second chance, she missed an clumsy volley – and may not have even had to venture forward, because she went 15 for 27 when she was in the net. UH-OH.
So good at important moments in the high tension final set with high issues, Sabalenka held together and kept his third match point Thursday evening to finish a victory of 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 against Pegula in a revenge match of last year’s final.
“I was super moving. I said to myself, “Oh, my God, no means that it happens. Please close this match, “said Sabalenka afterwards. “The whole match, I continue to say to myself: (on) the next one, just one step at a time, don’t worry about the past. Just try better at the next point.”
When it was over, Sabalenka swung on her heels, spread his arms and shouted.
On Saturday, when she faces Amanda Anisimova n ° 8 or Naomi Osaka n ° 23, the Sabanka n ° 1 will try to become the first woman to win consecutive championships in Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams obtained three consequences from 2012 to 2014.
“I had to work very hard to win this victory,” said Sabalenka after improving 8-2 against Pegula all the time. “I hope I can start again.”
Thursday’s first semi-final was quite close, much closer than the right triumph for Sabalenka on Pegula 12 months ago which gave the Belarus its third home title, All on Hard Courts.
Since then, Sabalenka has been the finalist of Madison Keys at Australian Open in January and Coco Gauff at the Open of France in June, then was eliminated in the semi-final of Wimbledon by Anisimova in July.
The retractable roof of the Arthur Ashe stadium was closed before the semi-finals start, which prevented the wind disruption outside the gusts up to 30 MPH and the rain that arrived during the game.
Under the right interior conditions, Pegula n ° 4 played as properly as possible in the first set and the third, making only three uns forked errors in each. But in the second, this count was nine years.
In the end, Sabalenka had accumulated more than twice as many winners than Pegula, 43-21.
“We push,” said Pegula, “every match.”
All evening, Pegula continued his feedback, taking big cuts and not safely playing safely. So it was the key: Sabalenka was able to save the four break points that she faced in the last set.
“It was really high level. I don’t really know what to say else,” said Pegula, who wore a White New York Yankees jacket and enjoying a root beer lollipop during his press conference. “I don’t know how I didn’t break in the third.”
Asked how she had managed to manage these moments, Sabalenka replied, laughing: “I just praying inside and hoping the best.”
Neither she nor Pegula had lost a set in the tournament before Thursday, although Sabalenka only needed to go through four games, instead of five, to reach the semi-finals, because her opponent in the quarter-final, Marketa Vondrousova, withdrew with a injured knee.
This meant that Sabalenka had not contributed since Sunday.
Could it be rusty? Of course, did not look at the start, and Sabalenka used a clever combination of thief winner to help increase a break and take a 4-2 lead.
But Pegula did not fold. In the next match, with the thousands in the roaring stands for each point won by the American, Sabalenka made it possible to unbalance the kicks of two points in a row and to double to break immediately.
Sabalenka shook his head and slammed his arms by his side. It ended her race for 32 consecutive catches, and she draped a white towel above her head to change. Pegula then broke to crown a four -game race that wrapped the whole and, this time, Sabalenka quickly recovered his bag and headed for the locker room.
When she returned, Sabalenka raised her game – and stabilized her mind if necessary.
“I’m going to go there on Saturday,” she said, “and I will fight for each point as the last point of my life.”
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