Aryna Sabalenka on Thursday refocused after a premature victory celebration to wrap up a 0-6, 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (10-5) victory over Madison Keys and the US Open final.
Second seed Sabalenka faces No. 6 seed Coco Gauff today after the American eliminated Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 7-5.
She was not sure how she was going to get there when the hard-hitting Keys had a 5-3 lead in the second set.
Photo: AFP
“You just have to keep trying, keep staying there, and keep pushing it. Maybe you’ll be able to turn around this game,” Sabalenka said. “Lucky me, somehow magically, I don’t know how, I was able to turn around this game.”
She did it by taking the two tiebreakers by a combined 17-6, able to laugh off her mistake in the second one.
When she moved out front 7-3, she dropped her racket and put her hands to her face, covering a huge smile after believing she had won. Tiebreakers in decisive sets go to 10 points.
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