In the US Open semifinals, Pegula took her first set from Sabalenka in two years, before succumbing 6-4 in the third. A month later, in the Wuhan semifinals, Pegula ended her four-match skid against Sabalenka by beating her in a third-set tiebreaker.
For years, Sabalenka had too much pace and offense for Pegula to handle. Now the American, one of the WTA’s best counter-punchers and power-absorbers, had finally found a way to use Sabalenka’s pace against her.
This week, each woman continued her strong run of recent form by winning her opening match in Riyadh—Pegula beat Coco Gauff, Sabalenka beat Jasmine Paolini. Over the first two sets on Tuesday, they did the same to each other. Sabalenka controlled enough of the points, and forced enough errors off her opponent’s racquet, to win the first set. Pegula counter-punched, charged the net, and coaxed Sabalenka into misfiring often enough to turn the tables and win the second.
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For a 10-minute span at the start of the third, it looked as if Pegula had solved her Sabalenka problem, and was going to make it two wins over her in a row. She broke for 2-1 with a big backhand return, and served her way to the brink of a 3-1 lead in the next game. Sabalenka could only roll her eyes, stick her hands on her hips, and stare at her team in frustration. A meltdown, like the ones she had suffered at the first three majors of the year, looked like a distinct possibility.
