World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka lost a deciding set 6-0 for the second time in four matches, as Jessica Pegula of the U.S. recovered from a rain-delay momentum shift at the Berlin Tennis Open to defeat her 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-0.Sabalenka had reached their semifinal by coming from 6-2, 4-0 down to defeat the Czech Republic’s Nikola Bartůňková, but she could not repeat the trick Saturday.Pegula led 6-4, 6-6 (2-1*) when Sabalenka double-faulted to fall 3-1 down in the second-set tiebreak. But at that point, with the Belarusian on her haunches in despair, the rain came. The players left court for two hours, and when they returned, Sabalenka won six of seven points played to force a deciding set.With such a striking change in momentum, it appeared that Sabalenka would be able to strike early in the first set. But after Pegula held her serve in the opening game, and then broke Sabalenka in a game that went to four deuces, it was the American who took charge. Sabalenka won just four points in the final four games, as Pegula surged to the finish line to set up a final against either Alex Eala of the Philippines or the Czech Republic’s Linda Nosková.Why is Wimbledon still played on grass?Tifo SportsThe result leaves two players with complicated grass records looking forward to Wimbledon. Pegula, 32, won this tournament in 2024, and the Bad Homburg Open (also a WTA 500) in 2025, but she has never been beyond the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, and has never played against anybody ranked inside the top 40 there. Sabalenka, 28, reached the semifinals in 2021, 2023 and 2025, but she is 1-4 against top-10 players on the All England Club grass.