Jessica Pegula cherishes 'childhood dream,' Aryna Sabalenka seeks redemption in US Open final

NEW YORK — For Jessica Pegula, making it to Saturday’s US Open final feels like a dream come true.

For Aryna Sabalenka, it’s a chance at redemption.

Pegula, a Buffalo native and the latest American to reach the women’s singles final at Flushing Meadows, hadn’t advanced past a quarterfinal at a Grand Slam tournament before this one.

She rolled through the first five rounds without dropping a set, then came storming back from an early deficit in Thursday night’s semifinal to defeat Karolina Muchova — 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 — at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“If you would’ve told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals at the US Open, I would have laughed so hard, because where my head was, [I] was not thinking that I would be here,” said Pegula, the 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, 30, is competing at her eighth US Open and 23rd major tournament. Six of the first 22 ended with losses in the quarterfinal, including at the 2022 Open.

Now, Pegula, the WTP’s No. 6 player, is on the run of her life — a run that included beating top-seeded Iga Świątek in straight sets in Wednesday night’s quarterfinal.

“I got a lot fitter,” Pegula said after Thursday’s win. “I got a lot better at moving, at knowing how to play my game, and staying healthy. I think all of that stuff kind of accumulated into me becoming a lot more confident in matches. I feel like my mental toughness just got so much better.”

The Belarusian-born Sabalenka, meanwhile, is back in the Open final for a second consecutive year. In 2023, she lost in three sets to U.S. phenom Coco Gauff in front of an Arthur Ashe crowd that was decidedly in the American’s favor.

The Ashe crowd was similarly supportive of New York City-born Emma Navarro in Thursday night’s semifinal match as Sabalenka refused to falter, topping the American — 6-3, 7-6 (2) — behind a powerful serve that maxed out at 116 mph.

“Last year, it was very tough experience, very tough lesson,” Sabalenka said Thursday. “Today in the match, I was, like, no, no, no, Aryna, it’s not going to happen again. You have to control your emotions. You have to focus on yourself.”

Sabalenka, a two-time major winner and the world’s current No. 2, is 5-2 in her career against Pegula, having just defeated the American in the Cincinnati Open final three weeks ago.

“She’s a really great hard-court player, if not one of the best in the world,” Pegula said of Sabalenka. “But I think I’m also a really good hard-court player. Cincinnati, she served unbelievable, and I felt like I still had chances in that match.

“I think I know that I have a game that can possibly frustrate her. I just have to be aggressive. I have to get her moving, serve smart and try and put some pressure on her serve.”

Despite defeating Pegula in straight sets in Cincinnati, Sabalanka described that final as a “really tough match.”

“We’ve had a lot of great battles in the past, really difficult, tight matches,” Sabalenka said. “She’s playing her best tennis, I would say, and feels like she’s back on track.”

Like Pegula, Sabalenka seeks her first US Open title. An American has won the women’s final 11 times since 1998, though Gauff’s title ended a five-year drought.

“It’s a childhood dream,” Pegula said of advancing to the final. “It’s what I wanted when I was a kid. It’s a lot of work, a lot of hard work put in. You couldn’t even imagine how much goes into it. It would mean the world to me [to win], obviously.”