NEW YORK — Jessica Pegula came from behind in a topsy-turvy match full of breaks of serve Tuesday night, beating fellow American Emma Navarro 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 to advance to her third consecutive U.S. Open semifinal.Her prize? A third chance at taking down Aryna Sabalenka in New York.Pegula, the No. 3 seed, will meet the defending champion for the third consecutive year in New York. She lost to her in the semifinals last year and in the final the year before, in what is still Pegula’s only career Grand Slam final appearance.She has won two of her past three meetings against Sabalenka, but a victory at her home major against the world No. 1 — who she could still unseat with a title win here — has so far eluded her.The final game, in which Pegula missed her first match point and then cracked a winner to deny Navarro the chance to break back, was typical of the evening. There were nine breaks of serve in 28 games, with games that regularly swung back and forth from deuce.
Early in her match with Navarro, the No. 26 seed, Pegula tinkered with her choice of racket. This was her first formal night session, and she struggled to find her range from the baseline and on her serve. But as the match wore on, she found the reliable rhythm that has carried her to deep runs in Flushing Meadows the past few years.Her serve, which has improved in pace and precision this year, is still not quite firing. Navarro took advantage of that even as Pegula’s baseline consistency grew, pressuring her serve even into what proved to be the middle of the third set.Navarro broke Pegula’s serve to lead 2-1, on her third break point in the game. Pegula broke back to love for 2-2, but Navarro immediately brought up two more break points.This time, Pegula held firm on her serve, despite needing a second delivery on both points. In the very next game, Pegula broke Navarro’s serve once more, and she was away.Pegula may be the one of the most reliable winners in women’s tennis, with a tour-leading 50 wins this year and five appearances in tournament finals, but Sabalenka will be her biggest test.Despite those two recent wins for Pegula, the Belarusian owns a 9-4 record against the American and she’s owned their only two Grand Slam meetings, both of which have come at the U.S. Open.
