With a roar and a mighty overhead smash Aryna Sabalenka announced there would be no all-American women’s final at the U.S. Open. She put an end to Emma Navarro’s Cinderella run to the semis, dictating with power and precision through the second set tiebreak.
The Australian Open winner and world no. 2 was, to be sure, expected be playing on the last day of the Grand Slam season, but this U.S. Open has been so full of surprises that, ya never know, Miss Navarro might pull another upset, like her win over defending champion Coco Gauff. She played with her unique combination of elegance and intelligence, and if she could not turn back Miss Sabalenka’s deep powerful groundstrokes and huge serve in the first set, she did make it more competitive than the score, 6-2, might suggest, keeping rallies going and placing adroit winners. The second set was even more competitive, as Miss Navarro’s agility and changes of pace seemed for a time to disrupt Miss Sabalenka’s game. But she adjusted, kept her wits about her, for a 7-6 (2) second set and match.
If the hope of an all-American women’s final was dashed, Jessica Pegula still pulled off one of the great comebacks of the fortnight, as she rallied after being completely outplayed in the first set by Karolina Muchova. Hanging on to a serve that had been problematic in the first week, inspired no doubt by her upset of the favorite, Iga Swiatek, in the quarter-finals, Miss Pegula found her feet, her long strokes, and above all her will and disrupted Miss Muchova’s beautifully effective combination of net-approaches, volleys, and high-pace forehands. It was a great and deserved win, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2, for the humble girl from Buffalo, N.Y., who had never got past a quarter-final on the Slam circuit (she has however been in every one this year).
Between Jessica Pegula’s win and Emma Navarro, American women’s tennis continues to show its depth and strength. Following a long drought, American men, as well, are surging and there will be an American man in the final for the first time since Andy Roddick in 2003, as one of the semis is between Marylander Frances Tiafoe and Californian Taylor Fritz. Stay tuned for the finals: Can Jessica find a way to disrupt Aryna? Can either Big Foe or Taylor outplay Jannik Sinner, assuming he beats the British star Jack Draper? What someone over at the Mets, who play across the street, once noted applies as well at Flushing Meadows: the drama is never over, until it’s over.
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