Two women’s semifinals headline primetime on Day 11 of the 2024 US Open, as four of the sport’s ultimate talents square off in this event’s penultimate round.
The evening’s first offering features second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka against No. 13 seed Emma Navarro, while the second half of the twi-night doubleheader brings together sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula and the unseeded Karolina Muchova. At the start of this event, 128 names filled the lines of the women’s draw; tonight the deal is two pair. As the days of this tournament narrow, so does the margin for error. Intensity is the order of the evening.
No. 2 seed Sabalenka has been brilliant in working her way upward from the draw’s bottom line into her fourth consecutive US Open semifinal, playing from the start like a woman determined to finish first in Flushing. Sabalenka has been awesome in her advance, blasting her way through the draw with the loss of just a single set in five matches. Her dominant 6-1, 6-2 dismissal of Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen in the quarters on Monday was about as good as it gets, as the 26-year old dictated play from the start, trumping gold medal with heavy mettle, overcoming carat with stick. At 26, Sabalenka is the youngest player to reach four consecutive US Open semifinals since Venus Williams strung together six semis in a row from 1997-2002. The two-time Aussie Open champ is also on track to become the first woman to win both hard-court Slams in a single season since Angelique Kerber pulled off the cement double in 2016.
To get there, she’s going to have to first get past surprise semifinalist Navarro, who’s likewise made a rather impressive advance to her best-ever Slam showing. A quarterfinalist at Wimbledon this year, the 23-year-old American planted No. 3 seed Coco Gauff in the fourth round and backed that up with a win over Spain’s Paula Badosa to reach her first major semifinal. That’s not too shabby for a player who’d never gotten out of the first round here in two prior main-draw appearances. But the way the 13th seed has competed these two weeks suggests she’ll be a more familiar fixture in the latter stages of majors in the years to come. This is the sixth tournament semifinal in which the American has competed this year, winning her first singles crown at the Hobart tournament in January.
The two women have met just twice—both times this year—with Navarro winning in the fourth round at Indian Wells and Sabalenka victorious in the same round at Roland Garros. Without doubt, Navarro is a good one, owning all the assets it takes to be a great one. Sabalenka, meanwhile, is already there. In a tight two, the second seed is through to her second consecutive US Open final.
The unseeded Muchova may be the only one of the four semifinalists without a number next to her name, but don’t let that fool you. The 28-year-old Czech, who’s into her second consecutive US Open semifinal, is a Top 10 talent whose ranking took a large hit after she was forced off the tour for the better part of this year with a wrist injury. Now ranked No. 52, the 2023 French Open finalist’s career-high mark was No. 8, and that’s exactly how she’s playing, blazing her way through her first five matches here without losing a set. Muchova’s lack of match play before coming to New York has not been an issue; she’s out-slugged and out-worked the competition, playing the sort of all-court game that’s particularly unique in an era of baseline bombers. In her straight-sets quarterfinal win over Beatriz Haddad Maia, Muchova came to net 23 times, winning 17 of those points. It’s a throwback style that keeps her moving ahead.
Tonight, she’ll look to continue her forward progess against Pegula, whose run to the semifinals here marks her best career Slam showing. Six times before she’d reached the quarters of a major only to be halted each time at that point. There’s been no halting her here. The 30-year-old American has steamrolled through her first five matches, reaching the semis without losing a set. Her straight-sets dismantling of top seed and 2022 US Open champ Iga Swiatek was nothing short of surgical, a mix of fiery shot-making and icy cool confidence. In that match, Pegula made 81% of her service returns, won 77% of her first-serve points, and converted on four of her eight break-point chances while losing her own serve just once. Se's now won 14 of her last 15 matches, her only loss coming in the final of last month's Cincinnati event. Throughout her record run here, Pegula has been brilliant off the ground, slugging with a marvelous mix of power and precision, painting lines on cement like a highway worker.
Pegula came out on top in their only previous meeting, winning a three-set second-round matchup over Muchova last month in Cincinnati. Having come this far, it’s hard to fathom that Pegula won’t go farther. In a tempestous two, the American is on to her first major final.
