Jessica Pegula says her past meetings with Aryna Sabalenka are fueling her motivation going into their semi-final showdown at the US Open.
Pegula booked a clash with the world No.1 after battling back from a set down to defeat Emma Navarro, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 in what was a topsy-turvy encounter. The world No.3 struggled at times with her second serve, winning only 16 of 39 points played, and produced eight double faults. In the decider, she was down a break before winning five out of the next six games.
The 32-year-old will next play two-time defending champion Sabalenka in what will be their 14th Tour-level meeting, with the Belarusian leading their head-to-head 9-4. However, Pegula has won two of their last three meetings.
“It’s fun to look at it like a rivalry. I think that’s what kind of motivates me,” Pegula told reporters in New York.
“I feel like that’s what’s going to motivate her, probably that I beat her the last couple of times (Note: Pegula’s last two wins were before and after Sabalenka won their match at the WTA Finals).
“I’m sure she’s going to look at those couple of matches and what she needs to do differently.”
Pegula has registered 50 wins on the WTA Tour this season, which is more than any other player left in the women’s US Open draw. Furthermore, she has reached at least the quarter-final stage at more tournaments than any other player on the WTA Tour so far this year.
“I’m going to try to pull what I did well from those few matches but be aware that she’s No. 1 in the world,” Pegula said of her game plan for the semi-finals.
“Her (Sabalenka) and her team do a really great job of looking at what they need to improve, what other players are doing against her, and I think that’s the reason she is No. 1 because they’ve done such a great job at that.”
Sabalenka is enjoying a resurgence at Flushing Meadows after a mixed couple of months on the Tour. At one stage, she failed to reach the last eight at three consecutive tournaments. She has dropped one set in five matches played in New York, which was during her roller-coaster quarter-final triumph over Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova. Sabalenka edged out the Czech by winning 10-7 in a third-set tiebreak.
“That match probably gave her a lot of confidence getting through a top player in that fashion, and to win in a ten-point tiebreaker is pretty gutsy to come back from,” Pegula commented.
“She hasn’t maybe had the best results this summer, but I know that she has a lot of confidence playing here at this tournament, and she’s going for a three-peat.
“I had a pretty terrible summer last year and then was able to play really good tennis here and take a set off of her in the semis last time we played. So sometimes results don’t really matter that much.”
Pegula is the first WTA player in the Open Era to reach her first semi-final at all four major events after turning 30.
She will play Sabalenka in the semi-finals on Thursday.
