A new queen of New York will be crowned at Flushing Meadows on Saturday, where second seed Aryna Sabalenka and sixth seed Jessica Pegula will emerge onto the Arthur Ashe Stadium courts with a coveted trophy engraving on the line.
The two women have never contested a Grand Slam final before, but they are all too familiar with one another having met seven times on the WTA Tour down the years, with Sabalenka triumphing in five of those battles.
The Belarusian - seeking to go one better than her loss to Coco Gauff in the 2023 showpiece, which triggered a racquet-smashing session backstage - has now partially avenged that crushing defeat to a home favourite, knocking out her fellow American Emma Navarro in straight sets in the semi-finals.
Navarro had astonishingly ended Gauff's title defence in the last eight, but despite a second-set fightback, the American succumbed to a 3-6 6-7[2] defeat against Sabalenka, who customarily overwhelmed Navarro with her enviable aggression and power.
Sabalenka roared into the New York showpiece with eight aces and 34 winners to her name - Navarro only mustered one and 13 in the respective metrics - and made amends for a shocking start to the critical second-set tie-breaker.
An unforced error and double fault preceded seven straight points from the reigning Australian Open champion, whose four major finals on hard courts is now the second-most of any active female player, only behind Victoria Azarenka's five.
The American dream lives on for Jessica Pegula
© Imago
In contrast, her more experienced opponent Pegula has now got the Grand Slam monkey off of her back, having finally made it to a major championship match at the 23rd time of asking thanks to a captivating comeback.
The 30-year-old endured a dreadful start to her semi-final bout with Karolina Muchova, falling a set and a break down and almost ceding a double break in the second, but the Flushing Meadows crowd eventually got what they came for.
With two hours and 12 minutes played at the Arthur Ashe Stadium, Pegula pulled off a 1-6 6-4 6-2 triumph to advance to her maiden Grand Slam final, having already made it further than any of her previous majors by reaching the semis.
Always knocking on the door of the WTA's top three and now breaking back into the podium positions, Pegula had suffered six Slam quarter-final exits before New York 2024, where she has now displaced Gauff to become the new American number one.
The 30-year-old - who only registered 22 unforced errors compared to Muchova's 40 in their semi-final bout - is now bidding to emulate her younger compatriot's path to US Open glory, as Gauff coincidentally saw off Muchova in the final four before a comeback success over Sabalenka in the trophy contest.
Also the oldest player to reach their first US Open final since Flavia Pennetta in 2015, Pegula has finally exorcised her excruciating Grand Slam demons, but arguably the toughest hard-court challenge yet now stands in her way.
Ben Knapton
