Sabalenka will surely be a heavy favorite in the final. She was the most impressive of the four players in action in this long, long doubleheader session of tennis. Anisimova will need to cut down on the errors if she’s to pose any sort of challenge.
But these are two players who showed a tremendous capacity for hitting unexpected winners. To use boxing terms, it’s a heavyweight contest. In chess terms, it’s a grandmaster battle. In poker terms, both players have pocket aces. In esports terms, both players have much better computers than I have.
Thanks for following along with us tonight / this morning / whatever time it is where you are. Enjoy the final.
Amanda Anisimova beats Naomi Osaka 6-7, 7-6, 6-3
Another gutsy win, and it’s another major final for the one-time teen prodigy who, after a break to deal with burnout and grief, looks to be in top form.
“[Reaching the final] means the world,” says Anisimova. “I’m trying to process that right now, it’s a dream come true. The hope is to be the champion but I’m in the final now and I’m excited.”
She also pays tribute to her opponent. “She is playing amazing tennis, I’m so proud of her after having a baby and returning to this level. I had to dig deep,” she says. “I tried to stay positive - there were a lot of nerves at the beginning. This tournament means so much and I think that was getting to me.”
Updated
Third set: *Osaka 7-6 6-7 3-6 Anisimova Anisimova hits a poised second serve and gets on the board first. A big-time backhand takes her within two points of the final. She hits long on the next point but is on target with the backhand again. Double match point.
Osaka fends off the first one. Every time she seems to be done, she hits a big shot.
And my wi-fi crashes …. which means I nearly miss the denouement, in which Anisimova is this close to blowing her chance to seal the game, She hits a double fault and collapses to deuce, and needs to save two break points before battling back to squeeze home. On the final rally a whipped forehand is too good for Osaka, who can only parry the ball into the net. Both players looked VERY nervous as that match ended.
Updated
Third set: Osaka 7-6 6-7 3-5 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): How is she still hitting these aces? That’s 15, and it’s 15-15, appropriately. She elicits a couple of errors from Anisimova and holds. Anisimova will serve for the match.
Third set: *Osaka 7-6 6-7 2-5 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Seems like it’s been a while since Anisimova was routinely dumping her shots into the net, but that’s where the first one goes in this game. Next is an ace, then an Osaka error. The next serve is nearly an ace, as Osaka barely gets a racket to it. Osaka hangs in the next rally for a few swings but hits into the net, and she’ll serve to stay in the match.
Updated
Third set: Osaka 7-6 6-7 2-4 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): Somehow, Osaka is able to come up with big serves still. Her 13th ace makes it 30-15. Her 14th closes it out.
Third set: *Osaka 7-6 6-7 1-4 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Osaka’s still moving, but we have to wonder how much that foot is bothering here. Anisimova smells blood, and she winds up a bit too much on a double fault to make it 30-15. She follows with an ace and then drills another winner past a flat-footed Osaka, who looks like this has gotten away from her.
Third set: Osaka 7-6 6-7 1-3 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): A trainer came out to work on Osaka’s foot during the changeover. She watches an Anisimova winner zoom by to make it 0-30, comes back with an ace, then dumps it into the net for double break point. Anisimova smashes Osaka’s second serve back at her, and Osaka can only hit it back into the net. Break
Third set: *Osaka 7-6 6-7 1-2 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Osaka gets aggressive with her returns, and it backfires. After winning the first point, she loses the next three, and Anisimova closes with an ace.
Updated
Third set: Osaka 7-6 6-7 1-1 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova battles to 30-30, but Osaka hits another ace and forces an errant return to take the game.
Third set: *Osaka 7-6 6-7 0-1 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Anisimova drops the first two points and then rattles off four in a row with nary a fuss.
Anisimova has 34 winners and 36 unforced errors.
Osaka has 24 winners and 22 unforced errors. She also has 10 aces to Anisimova’s four.
Amanda Anisimova wins second set in tiebreaker
You didn’t need to sleep tonight, did you?
More second-set tiebreak
Service winner for Osaka stops the run. 4-1
Anisimova stuns Osaka with a backhand winner across her body. 5-1
Osaka gets back on the board with a tremendous return. 5-2
Anisimova returns the favor. 6-2, four set points …
Updated
Second-set tiebreak
Osaka hits long. Mini-break. 1-0 Anisimova.
Osaka hits into the net. 2-0.
Osaka hits long. 3-0. The crowd has woken up at midnight.
Osaka hits long. 4-0.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 6-6 Anisimova: Osaka strikes first to move three points away, but Anisimova outlasts her on the second point and hits three brilliant shots to wrap up the game in a matter of seconds.
To tiebreak we go …
Second set: Osaka 7-6 6-5 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): A brilliant shot from Anisimova – Osaka started to go over to cover it but stopped, maybe thinking it was going out – makes it 15-30. Anisimova forces Osaka into a bad shot, and it’s double break point. Osaka wins the next point and gets a bad return from Anisimova. Deuce. Ace. Ad, Osaka.
The match has hit the two-hour mark. This is turning into a nightmare for those of us with teaching assignments in the morning.
Osaka crashes a shot into the net but comes back with two forehand winners, the second from an acute angle nearly around the net, to move within a game of victory.
Second set: *Osaka 7-6 5-5 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Put the third-set talk on hold. Osaka plays a couple of great points, and it’s 0-40. Anisimova gets one back but then double faults. Back on serve.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 4-5 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): An ace puts Osaka up 40-0.
Then Anisimova takes control, Osaka hits several errors … and it’s a break.
Anisimova will serve for the set.
Second set: *Osaka 7-6 4-4 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Like Sabalenka in the last match, when Anisimova hits well, she’s simply dazzling. Easy hold, and the previously somnambulant crowd has come to life.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 4-3 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova has gone, over the course of 99 minutes, from stoic acceptance of the occasional bad shot to hitting herself in the head with her racket.
An Osaka ace makes it 40-15. Anisimova keeps her poise through a couple of big shots to make it 40-30. A good Osaka serve keeps Anisimova off balance, and a couple of shots later, Anisimova fires long.
Second set: *Osaka 7-6 3-3 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Anisimova really isn’t concealing her emotions any more. A double fault makes it 0-30, and she looks like she just backed her car into a tree.
But, again, Osaka has started to misfire as well. 15-30. 30-30.
The net cord again conspires to redirect an Anisimova shot wide. Break point.
Anisimova hits several feet long, and she lets out a scream even before it lands. We’re back on serve.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 2-3 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): At 30-30, Osaka had a mostly open court but hit long. Break point. Fault. Let. Anisimova hits a big return but then clanks her next shot off the net cord, and it deflects long.
But Osaka is making errors, too. She hits out a couple of times, and Anisimova breaks.
Second set: *Osaka 7-6 2-2 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): We haven’t seen as many clever drop shots in this match as we did in tonight’s opener, but Anisimova opens this game with a beauty. Osaka scrambles to get there but can’t get the shot over the net. Anisimova immediately undoes her progress with two errors, both wide. Third time’s a charm, and the ball stays on the correct side of the line this time to take it to 30-all. An ace makes it 40-30. An error – hit long this time – brings up deuce, and Anisimova appears to arguing with some demonic forces or the laws of physics.
One way not to hit long is try a drop shot, and that’s another good one from Anisimova. Osaka returns, but Anisimova easily hits into the open court.
They trade errors, going to deuce and back. Then Anisimova gets creative with a changeup on her serve that Osaka returns long. We’re still on serve.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 2-1 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): In terms of quality, this is not up to the level of the first semi-final.
As I type that, Osaka rips her seventh ace of the match past Anisimova like a fastball past a batter a little ways over to where the Mets play, and she finishes the game with a big winner, quickly making everyone forget that the game was at deuce.
Second set: *Osaka 7-6 1-1 Anisimova (* – denotes next server): Anisimova unleashes a big serve to go up 30-15. On her next point, she hits the ball … can you guess where? That’s 24 unforced errors along with a lot of “forced” errors, and the vast majority of them have hit the net. If she were in the NWSL right now, she’d lead the league in scoring.
To mix things up a bit, she gives up the break by hitting long instead.
Maddening match if you have a strong rooting interest for the resurgent US player. Such a mix of brilliance and shocking misfires.
Second set: Osaka 7-6 0-1 Anisimova* (* – denotes next server): The good news for Anisimova is that her hot and cold form ran hot again, and she has opened the second set with a break. The bad news is that she just fell awkwardly as she hit the ball. She’s up and playing now, but as we’ve seen, once a tennis player feels a tweak somewhere, bad things can happen.
Naomi Osaka wins the first set 7-6
After falling behind 6-1, Anisimova rallies with two good service points. Then the automated officiating system malfunctions, announcing “fault” after the ball has crossed the net multiple times. The umpire awards that point to Anisimova to make it 6-4, but the gap is too much to make up, and yet another unforced error ends the set.
First-set tiebreaker: Anisimova 1-5 Osaka. Anisimova again dumps a shot into the net. Osaka goes back on serve and gets an ace to take a commanding lead.
First-set tiebreaker: Anisimova 1-3 Osaka. An Anisimova double fault is our first mini-break of the tiebreaker.
First set: Anisimova 6-6 Osaka: An Osaka ace interrupts the parade of Anisimova winners, but only briefly. Anisimova moves within two points of the set but then dumps yet another unforced error into the net. Osaka catches Anisimova going the wrong way, and it’s 40-30. Anisimova hits long, and we’re off to a tiebreaker.
First set: Anisimova 6-5 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova has found her form, at least in terms of hitting winners. She closes out her service game with aplomb. Can she break and take the set?
First set: *Anisimova 5-5 Osaka (* – denotes next server): Suddenly, Osaka is the one making errors, and she faces three break points. Anisimova gives one back, hitting into the net yet again and having a conversation with herself. But then she hits a forehand return straight down the line, and we’re back on serve.
First set: Anisimova 4-5 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): Much, much better from Anisimova this time. Precise shots all around, and she holds with ease.
So far, Osaka has hit four winners. Anisimova has 16 unforced errors.
First set: *Anisimova 3-5 Osaka (* – denotes next server): Solid play from Anisimova gets her halfway to a break. Osaka takes the next point but then has some trouble handling Anisimova’s power. Double break point. Osaka saves the first, and then Anisimova follows a terrific return with an unforced error into the net.
Are they sure the sensors on the near baseline are working? Not for the first time tonight, a shot that certainly looked long was not flagged, and a flustered Anisimova falls behind. A powerful winner brings up deuce again, but a return sails long to give Osaka the advantage again. Anisimova just can’t keep herself from hitting long, and now she must serve to stay in the set.
Updated
First set: Anisimova 3-4 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova muddles to 30-30, then unleashes an ace. She nearly wraps things up with another strong serve, but Osaka defends it well and fires back several more times before Anisimova misses. Deuce.
Anisimova takes the next point and smashes a shot to win the game … but it goes long! She takes the next point with a dazzling backhand winner, and she closes out the game with a serve that Osaka can’t return cleanly.
First set: *Anisimova 2-4 Osaka (* – denotes next server): After watching Sabalenka groan and grimace through so many errors in the first semi, it’s strange seeing two players who seem unperturbed by their mistakes here. And Osaka seems almost sad as she taps a ball away following another Anisimova error to close out a routine hold.
Updated
First set: Anisimova 2-3 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova runs into trouble again with a succession of unforced errors. Now she’s facing two break points. She hits a big serve, but Osaka returns well, scrambles back to the middle of the court, returns again, and Anisimova hits long. Osaka breaks again.
First set: *Anisimova 2-2 Osaka (* – denotes next server): Anisimova’s run in the last game has taken Osaka out of her groove. Two errors bring up two break points. Then Anisimova pounces on Osaka’s second serve to hit a clean forehand winner, and we’re back on serve.
First set: Anisimova 1-2 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): This looks like the Naomi Osaka who has won this tournament before, and this does not look like the Amanda Anisimova who reached the Wimbledon final and beat Iga Swiatek to get to this match.
Osaka wins three points with the calm demeanor of someone stirring her tea. Anisimova finally perks up a bit after a rare Osaka error, forcing the action in the next point. And again, and now it’s deuce. Then a big serve prompts a high arcing return from Osaka, and Anisimova calmly gets under it for the smash. Osaka hits long on the next point, and Anisimova has held the hard way, taking five straight points after falling behind 0-40.
First set: *Anisimova 0-2 Osaka (* – denotes next server): The pace seems rather languid as Osaka holds at love. It’s as if one player has been here several times before and the other has not.
First set: Anisimova 0-1 Osaka* (* – denotes next server): Anisimova starts with two quick points, but perhaps that creates a false sense of security. Just like that, Osaka has break point. Anisimova then hits a perfect crosscourt winner – just kidding, it’s a little bit wide, and Osaka breaks.
Second semi underway
Anisimova serving …
On to the next one …
Naomi Osaka was a few steps beyond “subdued” in her prematch interview. She sounds like she’s recording a meditation tape.
Amanda Anisimova stops to put away her phone.
“It was a really tough match. I had to work hard to get this win. She’s such a g eat player, such a great fighter. Hopefully I can go all the way again. And thank you guys for bringing the best atmosphere.”
The crowd will be against her again in the final, though. They like Sabalenka. They love US players like Anisimova, and Osaka has certainly endeared herself to this crowd over the years.
Back with the second match next, and yes, we’re going to be going well past my bedtime.
Aryna Sabalenka defeats Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-4
The US veteran put up as much of a fight as anyone possibly could against the overpowering world No. 1 and defending champion. At times, Sabalenka looked like she was going to break a racket over her own head out of frustration with her own inability to put the 31-year-old away.
But for every error, there was a winner or a devastating serve.
Pegula stays alive! Sabalenka comes to the net and is perplexed when Pegula drops a shot onto her feet. That doesn’t seem physically possible.
Sabalenka’s next serve is nigh unreturnable. Match point.
Unbelievable! Sabalenka had an overhead smash to win this semi-final, and she hits straight into the net. Deuce.
The umpire is admonishing the crowd to be quiet. Sabalenka makes plenty of noise, though, hitting each corner to leave Pegula no chance. Match point again.
Sabalenka hits wide. Pegula is just so much more patient, and that has kept this match close. 30-30.
Ace. So close to the line that everyone waited for confirmation. Match point. Crowd roars.
Sabalenka serving for the match …
Sabalenka wins the first point, but the net cord is unkind on the second, popping her shot up into the air to give Pegula all day to get her feet set for the winner.
Pegula hits long. 30-15. Two points away.
Also, Pegula has covered 32 feet per point, while Sabalenka has only needed to cover 28.5.
STATS
Aces: Sabalenka 7-3
Double faults: 4 each
Winners: Sabalenka 40-20
Unforced errors: Sabalenka 26-14
Third set: *Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 5-4 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Pegula certainly isn’t overpowering on her serve, but for the last several service games, she has had pinpoint control of every shot. She again holds at love. Can she finally get the break that has barely eluded her on her last two tries?
This is compelling stuff.
Third set: Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 5-3 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). The big difference in this match is that, while Pegula can hit a winner with some deception and creativity to set things up, Sabalenka can hit a winner from anywhere on the court. Maybe even the stands. Maybe even the parking lot.
But again, is she overcooking it? She alternates winners and errors, then double faults to bring up break point. She flings her racket to the ground but avoids cross comments from the chair umpire. She regains composure to win the next two points quickly. Then Pegula conjures a drop shot out of nowhere, and Sabalenka scrambles but can only hit in the net.
Once again, Pegula is making Sabalenka earn this every step of the way. And while Sabalenka has had her share of errors, for the most part, this is superb tennis, with both players raising their games after a downturn about a half hour ago.
But once again, Sabalenka just dominates a couple of points by brute force. Pegula now faces the pressure of serving to stay in the match.
Third set: *Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 4-3 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Pegula would surely love to have that first game of this set back, because she has been superb since then, forcing Sabalenka to the limit when she’s returning and then dominating her own service games. She holds at love about as routinely as anyone can hold at love against the world’s No. 1 player.
Third set: Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 4-2 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Is Sabalenka getting overeager here? She has a lot of open court to hit, but she overcooks it and flings it wide to make it 15-30. Then Pegula hits a solid drop shot, Sabalenka swings hard but sends it right to Pegula, and a quick-reaction volley leaves Sabalenka no chance. Double break point.
A thrilling point follows. Sabalenka comes to the net, hits a drop shot, and scrambles back to smash a Pegula lob.
That gets Sabalenka back on track, and she hits a pinpoint backhand winner. Deuce.
Or does it? Shot goes long, and it’s break point again. The crowd erupts – it’s definitely not anti-Sabalenka, but Pegula is a US player still in search of that long-awaited breakthrough, and this is New York.
But the defending champion just has so much power. Two booming points, and she’s serving to erase Pegula’s best chance to stay in the match.
And yet … the rush of blood to the head strikes again (apologies to Coldplay fans). Double fault, and Sabalenka is literally hopping mad at herself. No matter – she forces Pegula to scramble to send a high return that barely lands on Sabalenka’s side of the net, and she’s able to hit one of the easier smashes of her career. One more powerful serve, and she has seen off Pegula’s best challenge of the set.
Third set: *Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 3-2 Pegula (* – denotes next server). This crowd is trying to will Pegula back into this match. They roar when Pegula wins the first point in this game. She wins another, then places a serve so perfectly that Sabalenka should get a round of applause just for getting a racket to it, even if her shot went wide. Sabalenka’s next return goes into the net, and Pegula holds at love. Can she build on that?
Third set: Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 3-1 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Pegula gets some help from the net cord to make it 15-all. Didn’t see whether she apologized.
For some reason, I’m just now noticing that Sabalenka is wearing enough jewelry around her neck to be confused with a member of a royal family.
Error by Sabalenka, but she responds with an ace punctuated by a sharp scream – it’s not a Monica Seles screech, but more of a percussive “AAAHHH!!!” Another ace, and Pegula now looks like this is getting out of reach.
Third set: *Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 2-1 Pegula (* – denotes next server). My goodness, these games are flying. A sharp winner, two forced errors, and a Sabalenka unforced error add up to Pegula holding at love.
Third set: Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 2-0 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Four very quick points, and Sabalenka holds at love to take a vise-like grip on this match.
Third set: *Sabalenka 4-6 6-3 1-0 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Well, the advantage of holding to win a third game in the last set was to force Sabalenka to defend against Pegula’s serve in the first game here. That only works if Pegula holds serve. But Sabalenka looks dominant here, and she breaks.
Aryna Sabalenka wins the second set 6-3
You know you’ve done well when all you have to do to hit a winner is hold up your racket and have it bounce back into an open court. Pegula is finding her creativity again, and she takes the first point. But Sabalenka strikes back with a backhand winner. On the next point, Pegula hits the difficult shots, including a long stretch to hit a high lob that lands just short of the baseline, then hits an easy one into the net. Her next return is long, and it’s two set points for Sabalenka.
Sabalenka aggressively goes for the KO, but Pegula holds her ground, and the US player rips Sabalenka’s telegraphed drop shot back into the No. 1 seed’s midsection.
But Sabalenka has been the stronger player throughout this set, and she proves it one last time on the second set point.
We’ll play three.
Second set: *Sabalenka 4-6 5-3 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Pegula opens with an ace, but after Sabalenka equalizes, she double faults and is two points away from losing the set. She’s not likely to win this one, but there would surely be an advantage to making Sabalenka serve it out and then taking the first service game in the third.
It’s not the sharpest game for either player, and Pegula shanks a shot wide of an open court. That would’ve held it for her. She once again double faults to bring up set point, and her next serve is yet another fault, but an unforced error from Sabalenka brings it back to deuce. Another unforced error elicits a low scream from a frustrated Sabalenka. Still smarting from that miss, she drops another one into the net, and now she has to serve this out to take the set.
Second set: Sabalenka 4-6 5-2 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). This set will not be a repeat of the first. Sabalenka races through the first three points, double faults, then roars back with a scorching ace.
Second set: *Sabalenka 4-6 4-2 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Pegula has the countenance of someone who knows this is going to a third set. Sabalenka quickly makes it 0-30. But a sound winner and a strong serve draw Pegula level. Pegula then saves a break point with a well-placed winner, follows with another and then sees Sabalenka knock the next return into the net.
Remember when Sabalenka led the first set by this score?
Second set: Sabalenka 4-6 4-1 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Ace, ace, return into the net, and it’s already 40-0. Sabalenka again starts an exchange of drop shots and appears to have it won, but her volley goes just wide to her consternation. No problem – another drop shot, a quick dash to the net, and Sabalenka has an easy winner to hold.
Updated
Second set: *Sabalenka 4-6 3-1 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Can Pegula bounce back as she did in the first set? She wins the first point on an awkward but effective two-handed backhand volley, then follows with a more conventional winner. After Sabalenka pounces on her second serve, Pegula tries a drop shot, but Sabalenka drops it right back. A wayward Pegula backhand makes it 30-all, but Sabalenka’s next return sails long. Pegula again has to offer up a second serve to the ravenous Sabalenka, but the overeager Sabalenka sends it well long. Much-needed hold for Pegula.
Second set: Sabalenka 4-6 3-0 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Sabalenka wins the first point with a nifty changeup, not quite a drop shot per se but definitely not coming all the way back to where Pegula has been forced to camp out well behind her own baseline. An error makes it 15-all, but Sabalenka sends a forehand laser into the corner for 30-15, and she rips a backhand behind Pegula’s back to make it 40-15.
Pegula is only able to send her shots straight back to her waiting nemesis through the next rally, and when she tries to send the ball somewhere else, her shot finds the net. Sabalenka is firmly in control of the set.
Second set: *Sabalenka 4-6 2-0 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Sabalenka puts Pegula on her heels with some drives that land just short of the baseline with some venom. That gets her to 30-30, and she earns a break point with another overpowering rally. A few stinging shots later, and Sabalenka has broken.
Second set: Sabalenka 4-6 1-0 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Now it’s Sabalenka’s turn to play a clever shot from an acute angle, and Pegula can’t get there. But Pegula perfectly reads Sabalenka’s attempt at a drop shot, returning firmly and forcing Sabalenka to send a wild shot well wide. Sabalenko storms back to make it 40-15, gives one back on a desultory shot into the net, then moves Pegula around the court to hold.
Jessica Pegula wins first set 6-4
It’s as if Pegula knows which way Sabalenka is going to lean, and she simply hits it the other way. Pegula catches the defending champion flat-footed again and again, and she holds at love as Sabalenka sends a shot wide.
Stunning momentum shift, and Pegula hasn’t let that go.
First set: Sabalenka 4-5 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). This is turning into a compelling matchup of power vs. guile. Sabalenka smashes and approaches the net, only to be handcuffed by a perfectly placed return. Sabalenka follows with a torrid serve that Pegula can only deflect straight into the ground, and it’s 30-30.
Then it’s more Pegula wizardry, as Sabalenka once again is left stranded at the net as Pegula places a winner past her. In the next rally, Sabalenka hits long, and Pegula will serve for the set.
First set: *Sabalenka 4-4 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Well now. Pegula has truly taken control now. Even on a point that Sabalenka appears to be winning, Pegula scrambles from side to side and hits a winner past a startled Sabalenka. Pegula holds at love.
First set: Sabalenka 4-3 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). Sabalenka looks stunned as her backhand crashes into the net. It’s 15-40. Can Pegula break right back? Sabalenka entices her into a long return to save one break point, but then a double fault – the second going long by a couple of feet – ends Sabalenka’s streak of service games won. We’re back on serve.
First set: *Sabalenka 4-2 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Ludacris is here. Will his presence help Pegula stick around in this match? This game starts badly for her, as she falls behind 0-30 on a sublime drop shot that Pegula can barely tap back over the net, leaving Sabalenka the entire court to deposit her winner. A trade of errors, and Sabalenka has two break points. She hits long on the first – the stats feed says it’s a forced error, but that’s generous – and hits the net after a short rally. Deuce. Then advantage Pegula.
But then Sabalenka takes control. She takes two points, then runs Pegula into a corner and follows up with a simple forehand winner. First break to Sabalenka.
Updated
First set: *Sabalenka 3-2 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Simply dominant service game from Sabalenka. No aces, but she moves Pegula out of position with ease and closes out by smashing Pegula’s return down the line. Pegula can only watch the ball fly past her, and Sabalenka holds at love.
Updated
First set: *Sabalenka 2-2 Pegula (* – denotes next server). A second double fault already for Pegula, but she forces Sabalenka to stretch for an impossible shot on the next point, then notches her first ace. Her next serve is almost as good, but Sabalenka returns to start a marvelous point – Pegula tries an audacious drop shot, Sabalenka scrambles to cover, Pegula laces a hard shot, Sabalenka hits back, and Pegula’s lob attempt is just a hair long.
After all that, though, Pegula whips through two points, and we’re still on serve.
Updated
First set: Sabalenka 2-1 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). ESPN informs us that Sabalenka has won her last 30 service games. But Pegula is making her work for No. 31, sending Sabalenka to the corner of the court, where she can’t quite get the ball back over the net. Sabalenka looks a little frustrated after an error makes it 30-30, but she then rips an ace an inch or so away from the center line. She then caps a long rally with a cross-court winner that also paints the line.
Pegula has had some strong shots, but it just feels like Sabalenka is dictating the action here.
Updated
First set: *Sabalenka 1-1 Pegula (* – denotes next server). Sabalenka makes an unlikely error, but Pegula double-faults to get it to 15-15. Sabalenka errs again, but then she gets a bit of good fortune with a shot that hits the net cord, bounces up, and clips the net cord again before falling to the court. But Pegula rattles off two confident serves, finishing off the first of those at the net, and holds.
Updated
First set: Sabalenka 1-0 Pegula* (* – denotes next server). The defending champion opens with a punishing sequence of shots to take the first point. An unforced error follows, but then Pegula mishits her return of a Sabalenka second serve. Her next two returns are also out of play.
Updated
Oh, and Salisbury-Skupski did indeed win the men’s doubles semi-final.
Sabalenka to serve …
Warmups are finished. Here we go …
First up will be Sabalenka vs. Pegula, and the career records favor Sabalenka. She has beaten Pegula in seven of nine matchups, including the last three.
Pegula speaks as she heads through the tunnel. “Not many other places I’d rather be tonight.”
She has played all of her matches in the gargantuan Arthur Ashe Stadium in this tournament, and she’ll have home-country support.
Sabalenka is wearing a shiny silver top reminiscent of what the couple next door wore in the Christmas Vacation film. She hails Pegula as a fighter.
Meanwhile, in the men’s doubles semi-finals in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Neal Skupski and Joe Salisbury are on the verge of closing out Michael Venus and Yuki Bhambri. The British pair is serving for the match after splitting the first two sets. They’re up 5-4 in the third.
Preamble
Good evening, fellow Earthlings.
When I was in grad school, one of my classes started a semester by talking about their backgrounds. Mine was, by comparison, extremely boring.
So I feel a bit of sympathy for Aryna Sabalenka. While she has had some tragedy in her life and still walks the tightrope of being an athlete from Belarus who has expressed some support for Ukraine, from a tennis point of view, she just wins. And wins some more. And more.
She’s not just ranked No. 1 right now. She’s a couple of miles ahead of the pack.
Two of tonight’s semi-finalists, Jessica Pegula and Amanda Anisimova, are separated by barely more than 1,000 points. Pegula (No. 4) has 4,903. Anisimova (No. 9) has 3,869.
Ahead of them, Iga Swiatek (7,933) and Coco Gauff (7,874) form their own tier, though Pegula and Anisimova will surely gain on them when all is done in New York.
Sabalenka? 11,225.
And she’s been floating in the top five and making strong runs in majors. She’s won three, including this tournament last year.
Meanwhile, the other semi-finalists all have compelling backstories …
Pegula, who faces Sabalenka in a rematch of last year’s final, has been knocking on the door longer than a medieval army conducting a siege. After a couple of years in the top 10, she finally reached her first major final last year at age 30. Will it ever be her turn?
Anisimova was a teen prodigy who burned out before she could truly reach her potential. She took some time off and has slowly climbed back since her return. This summer, she reached her first major final at Wimbledon, only to suffer a 6-0, 6-0 loss to Swiatek. In her last match, she smashed her way past the Wimbledon champion to reach this semi-final against …
Naomi Osaka, who won four majors and was atop the tennis world before also hitting the wall and taking time off. She took more time off to have her first child. Since returning, she hasn’t made a significant run in a major – until now.
So if you like underdog stories and redemption, you have three choices. If you want to see the No. 1 player in the world confirm her greatness again, obviously, there can only be one.
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a look at the big semi-final coming up on Friday:
Carlos Alcaraz took his final leave from Rod Laver Arena this year consumed by frustration. Losing at the Australian Open, the first grand slam tournament of the year, was painful enough, but Alcaraz’s disappointment was particularly down to how he had lost.
Novak Djokovic had visibly begun to struggle with a leg injury early in their four-set quarter-final, but instead of focusing on his own game, Alcaraz found himself staring across the net and thinking too much about his opponent’s condition rather than about what he needed to win. While the Spaniard’s focus wavered, Djokovic’s difficulties inspired his most offensive, decisive tennis, and he willed himself to a miraculous victory.
That meeting was the last encounter in what has become one of the most unusual rivalries the sport has seen. At 38 and 22 respectively, Djokovic and Alcaraz were born 16 years apart. Their first meeting at the Madrid Open in May 2022, won by Alcaraz, occurred two days after his 19th birthday and two weeks before Djokovic turned 35. Considering that significant age gap, just one match between them would have been a fortunate outcome.
Instead, when they enter Arthur Ashe Stadium for their semi-final match on Friday, they will have met on every single major stage in professional tennis: Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, US Open, the Olympic Games and ATP Finals. Djokovic leads their head-to-head 5-3 and those meetings have included some of the most memorable matches in the sport, from Alcaraz’s recovery to win his first Wimbledon title in 2023 to Djokovic’s career‑completing Olympic gold medal triumph last year.
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