World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka beat third-ranked American Jessica Pegula 7-5, 6-2 in the US Open women's singles semi-final in New York, reaching Saturday's final as she bids for a third consecutive title. The Belarusian struggled early but pulled away in the closing stages of the first set and dominated the second, producing what she described as some of her best tennis of the tournament.

Sabalenka struck 29 winners to Pegula's 12, turning what had been a close rivalry in their two previous US Open meetings into a comfortable victory. She will face either second seed Elena Rybakina or fourth seed Coco Gauff in the final, and a win would make her the first woman since Serena Williams (2012-14) to claim three straight US Open titles; Rybakina is set to overtake her as world No. 1 next week regardless of the result. Sabalenka has now won 19 consecutive matches at the tournament since losing the 2023 final to Gauff.