American Jessica Pegula beats world number one after recovering from losing a tight second set to come through 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 to reach Sunday’s Berlin Open final.
Pegula had lost five of her past six matches against Sabalenka, but her flat shots and superb return of serve anchored her performance this time around.
For Sabalenka, it is another disappointing deciding-set performance, having lost the third set of her French Open quarter-final 6-0 after squandering a set and double break lead.
Pegula had fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to force a tie-break and led 3-1 before rain delayed play for an hour.
When they returned, Sabalenka won six of the next seven points to force a deciding set – only for Pegula to dominate the top seed.
