NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula came from behind in a topsy-turvy match full of breaks of serve Tuesday night, beating fellow American Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her third consecutive U.S. Open semifinal.
Her prize? A third chance at taking down Aryna Sabalenka in New York.
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Pegula, the No. 3 seed, will meet the defending champion for the third consecutive year in New York. She lost to her in the semifinals last year and in the final the year before, in what is still Pegula’s only career Grand Slam final appearance.
She has won two of her past three meetings against Sabalenka, but a victory at her home major against the world No. 1 — who she could still unseat with a title win here — has so far eluded her.
The final game, in which Pegula missed her first match point and then cracked a winner to deny Navarro the chance to break back, was typical of the evening. There were nine breaks of serve in 28 games, with games that regularly swung back and forth from deuce.
By the end, when Navarro netted a return of serve and Pegula lowered her head and screamed with relief, just getting over the line mattered.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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