Down to two

It's all on the line on Saturday! pic.twitter.com/TnWZkzDDCl

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2024

Aryna Sabalenka, seeded 2nd at the U.S. Open, came to the tournament having just won the Cincinnati Open, and her exemplary performance there locked down her place as the favorite in Flushing Meadows, and sure enough, she's now in the final. Last night, Sabalenka faced a very in-form Emma Navarro, who had reached the semifinals without dropping a set. And while no one who loses probably wants to hear that she "has plenty to be proud of," Navarro does. 

Sabalenka is a hard court terror, though Navarro has beaten her on a big hard court--in the fourth round in Indian Wells. And in their U.S. Open semifinal, the 13th seed didn't make it easy for the Belarusian star. Navarro can hang with the best in long rallies, and she did what she could to engage Sabalenka in such rallies. She also served well, and in the second set, she created a tiebreak situation, but Sabalenka took care of that, too, allowing Navarro to win only two points. 

Sabalenka's 6-3, 7-6(2) victory places her in the U.S. Open final for the second year in a row; last year, she lost to Coco Gauff in three sets. 

The second semifinal match was a dramatic story of superb shot-making, exhaustion, and determination. Jessica Pegula owned the "determination" part of that story, and it was enough, along with what was eventually a commanding performance, to get her to the U.S. Open final. 

The first set was the Karolina Muchova Show, and what a show it was. If we thought that our heads might spin, just watching it, we can imagine how Pegula must have felt. Muchova, using her outrageous bag of tricks and her superb athleticism, took that set 6-1. It was reasonable to think that Pegula wasn't going to allow herself to get kicked around like that in the second set (she later said that the first set embarrassed her), and sure enough, she was able to win that set 6-4. 

The third set promised to be very exciting. It began with Pegula's taking a 2-0 lead, then saving a break point to go up 3-0. Muchova began to sweat profusely, and soon struggled to keep up with the pace. The Czech player hadn't played many matches when she arrived in New York--she'd spent half the year undergoing wrist surgery and going through recovery and rehab--she wasn't exactly match-tough. But there was another, probably more important, factor--Muchova contracted some type of stomach flu in New York.

Nevertheless, the Czech star showed flashes of brilliance in the third set, but they were flashes only, and when she most needed to hit with accuracy, she couldn't. Pegula, whose nickname is Ms. Consistency, remained in control, and defeated Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Both players' U.S. Open stories are impressive. Muchova, hardly playing at all in 2024, still managed to defend her 2023 semifinal points. And Pegula--after reaching six major quarterfinals--finally broke through to reach a semifinal, and now, a final.

Let's return to Cincinnati for a moment. Sabalenka's opponent in that final was Jessica Pegula, whom she defeated 6-3, 7-5. The drama continues.

Paths to the final:

JESSICA PEGULA (6)
round 1--def. Shelby Rogers
round 2--def. Sofia Kenin
round 3--def. Jessica Bouzas Maneiro
round of 16--def. Diana Shnaider (18)
quarterfinals--def. Iga Swiatek (1)
semifinals--def. Karolina Muchova

ARYNA SABALENA (2)
round 1--def. Priscilla Hon
round 2--def. Lucia Bronzetti
round 3--def. Ekaterina Alexandrova (29)
round of 16--def. Elise Mertens (33)
quarterfinals--def. Zheng Qinwen (7)
semifinals--def. Emma Navarro (13)

We have mixed doubles champions--Sara Errani and Andrea Vavassori, the third seeds, defeated Taylor Townsend and Donald Young 7-6(0), 7-5 in the final. Errani, who won a gold medal (with Jasmine Paolini) in women's doubles at the Olympic Games, is a five-time major champion in women's doubles. 

There is no wheelchair competition at the U.S. Open this year because the Paralympic Games are taking place at the same time. In wheelchair tennis, there was plenty of drama at the Games. Top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot lost the gold medal doubles match to Yui Kamiji and Manami Tanaka, who defeated them 4-6, 7-6(3), 10-8. This was the first time that a non-Dutch team has won a gold medal. Guo Luoyao and Wang Ziying won the bronze medal.

But that was just the beginning of the drama. From time to time, de Groot's serve abandons her, and it happened in the gold medal singles match. The top seed and defending champion won the first set against 2nd seed Yui Kamiji, but then could not get control of her serve. She repeatedly double-faulted, and--after years of chasing Diede the Great--Kamiji finally caught the prize, defeating de Groot 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. This is also the first time that a non-Dutch player has won a gold medal in singles at the Games. van Koot won the bronze medal, defeating Ziyang in straight sets.