Jessica Pegula admitted she was "surprised" that she didn't manage to break back Aryna Sabalenka in the third set of their US Open semifinal match, before also adding that she probably could have done some things differently toward the end of their match.
After picking up three consecutive straight-set defeats to Sabalenka, Pegula fell 2-4 down early in their US Open clash before storming back and winning the next four games to take the opener. That was the last time that the American held a lead as the Belarusian went 3-0 up in the second set, and also claimed a break in the opening game of the third set.
However, even after falling down by an early third-set break, Pegula kept pressing and she had her chances to fully get back into the set. Sadly for the home star and the local crowd, the American tennis star missed out on a total of four break points across two separate games in the decider, and also lost a tight 10th game when the top seed served for the match.
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Pegula: I don't know how I didn't break back Sabalenka in the third set
"Yeah, I thought it was really high-level I don't really know what else to say. I don't know how I didn't break back in the third," the No. 4 seed said.
In recent years, some of Pegula's most heartbreaking losses came against Sabalenka - the Belarusian beat her in last year's Cincinnati and US Open final, as well as this year's Miami final.
"I think strategically I played her much better than I have played her the last few times. I feel like going into the next match, I kind of know what I need to do. Obviously executing it is a different story. I think there were some things, very small things, I could have done different at the end, but it's, like, I mean, I'm nitpicking things. If she's going to come out and I was hitting some good returns and she's going to blast first-ball winners, literally some of them on the line, I don't know what I'm supposed to do about that," Pegula explained.
