close
close

first Drop

Com TW NOw News 2024

    • US Open live updates: Aryna Sabalenka overpowers Emma Navarro in first women’s semifinal, Jessica Pegula takes on Karolina Muchova
    news

    US Open live updates: Aryna Sabalenka overpowers Emma Navarro in first women’s semifinal, Jessica Pegula takes on Karolina Muchova

    Vaseline Posted on

    The US Open women’s singles tournament is down to one final semifinal. Second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, the two-time reigning Australian Open champion, reached her second consecutive US Open final. The 26-year-old is on the best run of her career and will look to cap it off with a championship in Flushing Meadows.

    Sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula is on course for her first Grand Slam final. The 30-year-old is enjoying the deepest Grand Slam singles streak of her career, beating world No. 1 Iga Swiatek to reach this semi-final.

    The fourth semi-finalist, Karolina Muchova, lost in the semi-finals to Gauff at the US Open last year.

    In their third meeting of the year, No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka was stronger than No. 13 Emma Navarro in three sets: 6-3, 7-6 (2).

    Despite the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium being on her side and cheering for the underdog, Navarro had no answer to Sabalenka’s powerful serve (with seven aces) and forehand. Her later speed helped her stay in the match with strong defense. But Navarro often had to defend as she could not take the game back with her second serve.

    Just when it looked like Navarro might be able to fend off Sabalenka’s attack, the No. 2 seed surprised with drop shots. Showing contact closer to the net while Navarro played back to counter Sabalenka’s power was a combination that was difficult to cover. Trying to catch Navarro off guard sometimes led to unforced errors.

    Sabalenka’s tendency to rely on her power, however, sometimes causes her to watch her serves and returns rather than move. Navarro took advantage of this, showing speed all over the court and occasionally catching Sabalenka off guard to win points.

    In the second set, Sabalenka won the break point with her powerful forehand, despite Navarro’s best attempts to keep up. As she tried to keep her balance while moving quickly from left to right, Navarro eventually slipped and scraped her right knee. While it may not have hampered her physically, it was an indication of how Sabalenka was beating her up.

    Ultimately, Navarro could not slow Sabalenka’s pace – even though her knee offered the opportunity for a break – and gain more control of the match. Navarro fought back to 4-3 and 5-4 in the second set, again winning with speed against Sabalenka’s power.

    The second set was a clash of skill versus strength, with Navarro holding Sabalenka off and frustrating her. Navarro’s speed along the baseline, reaching and blocking shots that Sabalenka thought were out of reach, caught her by surprise.

    But despite fighting incredibly hard to force the second set to a tiebreak, Navarro had to play catch-up throughout the match and eventually it caught up with her. Sabalenka put up a wall, winning 8 out of 10 points and recovering after getting frustrated at not being able to get Navarro away.

    Sabalenka reaches the US Open final for the second time in a row.

    Time: 9:00 PM ET
    Location: Arthur Ashe Stadium | New York
    Channel: ESPN
    Current: Fubo, ESPN+

    Stay up to date with live updates from the semifinals at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center during the 2024 US Open all night long on Yahoo Sports.

    Live35 updates

    • Pegula takes the lead 5-2

      After Muchova’s racket flirtation, Pegula wins the next two points to hold her serve and move one game away from victory. She has played this set more conservatively, letting Muchova go for the winners and the mistakes that come with them.

    • Muchova is visibly frustrated

      Muchova tries to level the match, but another missed break point left her so frustrated that she threw her racket in the air at the end of the point. Fortunately, she caught it too.

    • Pegula keeps his serve and goes to 4-1

      At 30, Pegula is just two matches away from her first Grand Slam final.

    • Pegula gets the chance to take a 2-0 lead in the third half

      We’ve gone all the way back here. Pegula takes a significant lead in the third set and Muchova is now screaming at her box. Now it’s Muchova who has to make an adjustment.

    • Pegula wins second set

      After being down a set and a break, Pegula fought back to level the match and sent it to a winner-take-all third. She looked much better in that set, especially after the first few games, but was also helped by 19 unforced errors from Muchova in that frame. She still didn’t win her first serve enough, taking 13 of 24 points in that set, but she was able to punish Muchova’s second serve (12 of 15 points won).

      This is Pegula’s first three-set match of the tournament.

    • Muchova breaks back immediately, 4-3 behind

      This was an eventful second set as Muchova prevents Pegula from consolidating the break. She also seems to be reaching for her side a bit, so she may have something to deal with.

    • Pegula takes 4-2 lead

      That was a big one. After four deuces, Pegula gets her second break and is now on her way to leveling this match. She looked down a few games ago, but now pumps her first and screams. This would be quite a comeback.

    • Pegula gets the breakthrough, draw 2-2

      Finally. It wasn’t the best performance from Muchova, but Pegula is back in this match.

    • Pegula gets on the scoreboard, now 2-1 behind

      All she did was hold her serve, but even that feels important to Pegula at this point. She had to hold off a break point in the process. Stark stat: She has won 10 of her 22 first-serve points so far. Muchova, meanwhile, has won 15 of 19. If Pegula can’t figure out how to turn both points to her advantage, this is essentially over.

    • Pegula is broken to open the second

      It’s all Muchova now. She’s won all eight points at the net and still shows a clear advantage in baseline rallies. Pegula’s body language isn’t encouraging and she’ll need a serious turnaround.

    • Arthur Ashe Stadium attempts to breathe new life into Pegula

      The New York City crowd does everything it can to support the only American left winger in the women’s field, cheering her after her first point in the second set.

    • Muchova wins the first set 6-1

      That was easy, at least after the break points. Muchova was all over the court, feasting on both Pegula’s first and second serves, and hitting 11 winners to Pegula’s three to take the first set convincingly. If Pegula doesn’t get back up to speed, we’re looking at a match of less than an hour.

    • Then Muchova gets the break, 3-1 ahead

      The Czech veteran has looked sharp so far, or at least sharper than Pegula, who made three unforced errors and effectively gave away a match she needed to win.

    • Karolina Muchova survives first big game of match, leads 2-1

      The match was tied at 1-1, Muchova fought off three break points to hold serve in a marathon match, with some great points in it.

    • Muchova wins the first game without much effort

      Two unnecessary mistakes from Pegula. Let’s see how she reacts.

    • Muchova and Pegula are now appearing in court

      Two players who have struggled with injuries for most of the year are now playing in their first US Open final. Pegula is a -155 favorite on BetMGM.

    • Sabalenka wins 6-3, 7-6 (2)

      Emma Navarro put up an incredible fight to force the second set to a tiebreak. From that point on, however, Aryna Sabalenka put up a wall, winning 8 out of 10 points and recovering after getting frustrated at not being able to get Navarro out.

      Navarro had to play catch-up the entire match and eventually it caught up with her. Sabalenka reaches her second consecutive US Open final.

    • Sabalenka restores her rights

      Just when the set seemed to be slipping away for Sabalenka, she recovered with a fiery return that Navarro couldn’t reach despite her best efforts. She needed it.

      We’re at a tiebreaker of 6-6. Agility vs. Strength.

    • Sabalenka gets frustrated

      Sabalenka is frustrated by her inability to get Navarro away, and as a result, she becomes sloppy and hits balls into the net.

      At this point, Sabalenka seems to have no answers and is asking her coaches for help. Meanwhile, Navarro is gaining steam and the crowd is fueling her as she takes a 6-5 lead.

    • Navarro gets two break points

      We’ve said it before, but this match isn’t over yet. Just when it looks like Aryna Sabalenka is ready to knock Emma Navarro out, the American fights back and holds. We’re at 5-5 in the second set and the crowd is getting louder.

    Vaseline
    View all posts

    You Might Also Like