Pegula continues to advance and overcomes Muchova to reach the US Open final

NEW YORK — World No. 6 Jessica Pegula advanced to her first Grand Slam final after staging a comeback to defeat Karolina Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals of the US Open on Thursday. The 30-year-old from Buffalo trailed 6-1, 2-0 before rallying for her 15th win in her last 16 matches.

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Pegula is the oldest American woman in the Open Era to reach her first Grand Slam final. She is the third American woman aged 30 or older to reach a US Open final, joining Serena Williams and Martina Navratilova.

Following an injury-plagued start to the season that forced her to withdraw from four WTA 1000 tournaments and the French Open, Pegula entered the summer hard-court season ranked No. 20 in the PIF Race to the WTA Finals and can leave New York ranked No. 3 in the rankings. She has enjoyed great success during the summer on hard courts, capturing her third WTA 1000 title in Toronto, finishing second in Cincinnati and booking a spot in the US Open final.

Pegula is the fourth player in the Open Era to reach the finals of Canada, Cincinnati and the US Open in one season, joining Rosie Casals (1970), Evonne Goolagong Cawley (1973) and Serena Williams (2013). This is the first time an American man and woman have reached the singles final at a Grand Slam since 2002.

Pegula will face world number two Aryna Sabalenka for the US Open title on Saturday. The match is a rematch of last month’s Cincinnati Open final, which Sabalenka won 6-3, 7-5.

History of the tape: Pegula reached her first Grand Slam semi-final after defeating world number one Iga Swiatek to snap her 0-6 run in Grand Slam quarter-finals. The 30-year-old American was undoubtedly the most in-form player of the summer after winning 14 of her last 15 matches to claim the title in Toronto and the final in Cincinnati.

Pegula looked set for further success from the start of the match. She first faced Muchova just three weeks ago in Cincinnati, where Pegula won in three sets.

Muchova quickly comes out of the blocks: After trading serves to open the match, Pegula earned three break points while Muchova was serving at 1-1. Muchova held on to all three opportunities and from there, the Czech turned the tide. After holding serve at 2-1, Muchova won eight consecutive points to break and extend her lead to 4-1. She unleashed her attacking game all over the court to keep Pegula off balance and demoralize the world No.6 with spectacular passing shots to take the set after just 28 minutes.

Muchova extended her lead to 2-0 in the second set before Pegula rallied. She saved a break point to hold for 2-1 and then broke Muchova’s serve for the first time with a diving return that the Czech couldn’t save.

As Pegula clung to the baseline to prolong the rallies, her fortunes began to change. She fended off another break point, this time with a well-constructed nine-stroke rally from the baseline, to hold for 3-2. Pegula continued her march to break Muchova’s serve in a 10-minute game after Muchova capitulated with back-to-back backhand errors.

Crucial moment: Muchova halted Pegula’s four-game run with a quick break of serve and then rallied from a 0-30 deficit to hold for 4-4. But rather than be discouraged, Pegula quickly held serve at love and then broke Muchova’s serve to force a deciding set. Muchova committed her third double fault of the match on set point to end the physical 55-minute set and send the partisan crowd roaring.

Pegula maintained her momentum to the end. She broke Muchova’s serve to go 2-0 up and fought off a break point with a forehand winner to extend her lead to 3-0. Once again, Muchova kept up the pressure and earned a break point from a 40-0 deficit at 3-1. But the tiring Czech sent a forehand wide and Pegula held to go 4-1 up.

Muchova would fight back for the last time. With Pegula serving at 4-2, the Czech came back from 40-0 down to earn a break point. She saved five game points before an ill-conceived drop shot from the American landed in the net. But Muchova dropped a regulation backhand into the net and threw her racket in the air in frustration. Pegula held and broke one last time to seal victory after 2 hours and 12 minutes.

Next: Pegula defeated world number one Iga Swiatek in the quarter-finals and will now face world number two Sabalenka in a second straight final. Sabalenka leads the match 5-2.