By Canadian Press

Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka beats Jessica Pegula in the U.S. Open semifinals

Sep 4, 2025 | 6:29 PM

NEW YORK (AP) — Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka was simply too good for Jessica Pegula yet again, winning their U.S. Open semifinal 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Thursday night in a rematch of last year’s final.

The No. 1-seeded Sabalenka moved one victory away from becoming the first woman to claim consecutive championships at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams got three in a row from 2012 to 2014.

On Saturday, Sabalenka will meet No. 8 Amanda Anisimova or No. 23 Naomi Osaka for the trophy.

This matchup was quite close, far closer than the straight-set triumph for Sabalenka over Pegula 12 months ago that gave the 27-year-old from Belarus her third Grand Slam title, all on hard courts.

Since then, Sabalenka was the runner-up to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June, then was eliminated in the Wimbledon semifinals by Anisimova in July.

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When this one ended on Sabalenka’s third match point — after two bad errors on her initial chances — she rocked back on her heels, spread her arms and screamed.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Howard Fendrich, The Associated Press