Jessica Pegula to face Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open women's final

Jessica Pegula could do no right at the outset of her first Grand Slam semifinal. Her opponent at the U.S. Open on Thursday night, Karolina Muchova, could do no wrong.

"I came out flat, but she was playing unbelievable. She made me look like a beginner," Pegula said. "I was about to burst into tears, because it was embarrassing. She was destroying me."

Pegula managed to shrug off that sluggish start and come back from a set and a break down to defeat Muchova 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 for a berth in the final at Flushing Meadows. The No. 6-seeded Pegula, a 30-year-old from New York, has won 15 of her past 16 matches and will meet No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka for the title on Saturday.

Sabalenka, last year's runner-up to Coco Gauff at the U.S. Open, returned to the championship match by holding off a late push to beat No. 13 Emma Navarro of the United States 6-3, 7-6 (2).

It will be a rematch of last month's final at the hard-court Cincinnati Open, which Sabalenka won — the only blemish on Pegula's post-Olympics record.

"Hopefully I can get some revenge out here," said Pegula, whose parents own the NFL's Buffalo Bills and NHL's Buffalo Sabres. "Playing Aryna is going to be really tough. I mean, she showed how tough she is and why she's probably the favorite to win this tournament."

Things did not look promising for Pegula early Thursday. Not at all.

Muchova, the 2023 French Open runner-up but unseeded after missing about 10 months because of wrist surgery, employed every ounce of her versatility and creativity, the traits that make her so hard to deal with on any surface. The slices. The touch at the net. The serve-and-volleying. Ten of the match's first 12 winners came off her racket. The first set lasted 28 minutes, and Muchova won 30 of