Women's final
Back in January, when Aryna Sabalenka was winning a second consecutive Australian Open title, Jessica Pegula was bowing out in the second round with a straight-set loss against someone ranked 51st.
It wasn't the first setback for Pegula, of course. There have been many of those through the years, from assorted injuries to difficult-to-digest defeats. Look at her now, though: On Saturday, the No. 6-seeded Pegula will face No. 2 Sabalenka for the championship at the U.S. Open.
Sabalenka defeated Charleston's Emma Navarro in the semifinals.
"If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I'd be in the finals of the U.S. Open, I would have laughed so hard, because that just was where my head was -- not thinking that I would be here," Pegula, a 30-year-old American, said Thursday night after coming back to earn her first shot at a Grand Slam trophy with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over Karolina Muchova in the semifinals at Flushing Meadows.
"So to be able to overcome all those challenges, and say that I get a chance at the title Saturday, is what we play for as players -- let alone being able to do that in my home country here, in my home Slam," Pegula said. "It's perfect, really."
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Jelena Ostapenko and Lyudmyla Kichenok have won the U.S. Open women's doubles championship for their first major title as a team. They beat Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai 6-4, 6-3 on Friday.
The No. 7 seeds began the season with a loss in the Australian Open final but were too good in Flushing Meadows, where they didn't drop a set. If was the fifth title together overall for Ostapenko, a Latvian who won the 2017 French Open in singles, and Kichenok, who dedicated the victory to her home country of Ukraine.
Men's doubles
After falling just short in the last Grand Slam tournament, Jordan Thompson and Max Purcell have another shot at a men's doubles title at the U.S. Open. The Australians moved into the championship match by beating Americans Jackson Winthrow and Nathaniel Lammons 6-4, 7-6 (4) on Thursday.
Thompson and Purcell will face the No. 10-seeded team of Germans Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz in Saturday's final. Thompson and Purcell, the No. 7 seeds, held three championship points at Wimbledon in July before Henry Patten and Harri Heliovaara rallied to edge them 6-7 (7), 7-6 (8), 7-6 (11-9).