Jessica Pegula is the last remaining hope for an American woman to repeat as U.S. Open champion after surviving a tough semifinal match Thursday night.
Pegula battled back from losing the first set and being down a break in the second set to knock off Karolina Muchova in three sets, winning 1-6, 6-4, 6-2.
American tennis fans had been hoping for a guaranteed U.S. winner had fellow New Yorker Emma Navarro won her semifinal match earlier in the night.
Navarro, though, fell to world No. 2 Aryana Sabalenka, who is returning to the finals on Saturday after losing last year’s title match to American Coco Gauff.
Now Pegula will look to continue the U.S. winning streak at the season’s final Grand Slam tournament.
She’ll need to overcome precedent to do so; Sabalenka owns a 5-2 record against the 30-year-old Pegula.
Pegula on Wednesday night beat the best women’s tennis player, Polish star Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
This article originally appeared on USATNetwork: Jessica Pegula advances to the US Open final against Aryana Sabalenka
