Jessica Pegula is one win away from the U.S. Open title.
The American came roaring back from an early deficit to defeat Karolina Muchova — 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 — in her semifinal match at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Thursday night, booking her spot in Saturday’s women’s singles final.
It’s the first trip to a Grand Slam final for Pegula, who will face Aryna Sabalenka after the Belarusian star beat New York City-born Emma Navarro in Thursday’s other semifinal match.
“If you would’ve told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals at the U.S. Open, I would have laughed so hard, because where my head was, [I] was not thinking that I would be here,” said Pegula, the Buffalo-born daughter of Bills and Sabres owners Terry and Kim Pegula,
“To be able to overcome all those challenges and say that I get a chance at the title Saturday is what we play for as players, let alone being able to do it in my home country, here at my home Slam. It’s perfect, really.”
Pegula’s prospects to advance appeared grim after she dropped the final five games of the first set and the first two games of the second. But Pegula locked in, winning 12 of the match’s final 14 games to advance past the Czech-born Muchova.
Pegula had not made it past a major quarterfinal before this Open. She rolled through the first five rounds over the past two weeks without dropping a set — a run that included eliminating top-seeded Iga Świątek in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal.
“Before the match with Iga, I was way more nervous, and today I was kind of just, like, whatever,” Pegula said with a laugh. “Maybe that was bad, because I clearly came out super flat. I was trying to think that maybe it was good that I felt really loose, but clearly I was a little too loose.”
Pegula looks to become the sixth American woman to win the Open since 1998. The previous five combined to win 11 titles over that stretch, including Coco Gauff’s last year.
Muchova lost in last year’s Open semifinal to Gauff, then underwent wrist surgery in February. Like Pegula, the 28-year-old Muchova did not drop a set in this Open before Thursday’s semifinal. Her path included defeating two-time Open champion Naomi Osaka in the second round.
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