Sabalenka to face Pegula after Vondrousova withdraws

US Open 2025

Dates: August 24 through September 7 in Flushing Meadows, New York

Following Marketa Vondrousova’s withdrawal with a knee injury, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka made it to the semi-finals of the US Open, setting up a repeat of Jessica Pegula’s final from the previous year.

In Tuesday’s night session in New York, world number one Sabalenka was scheduled to take on unseeded Czech Vondrousova.

The 2023 Wimbledon champion, whose career has been hampered by injuries, pulled out less than two hours before the match was scheduled to begin.

After all that she’s been through, Sabalenka wrote on social media, “So sorry for Marketa.”

“She has been playing incredible tennis, and I know how much this must hurt her.”

Vondrousova hunched over at the baseline during her pre-game practice session before being consoled by her teammates.

Later, as she passed through the Flushing Meadows players’ area, she was spotted with heavy straps on her left leg.

I made an effort to play today, but after consulting with the tournament doctor, I decided not to risk aggravated the injury,” Vondrousova said in a statement.

“I appreciate all the support and apologize to the fans who were anticipating the game.”

After recovering from a set-down and saving eight match points against Taylor Townsend in the previous round, Czech Krejcikova, a two-time Grand Slam singles champion, turned up against a risky opponent.

However, a powerful Pegula, who hasn’t dropped a set in this scene, didn’t suffer any of these scares in a calm performance.

“I feel very at ease. She said it’s crazy to feel this at ease with the craziest crowd and world’s best players on the biggest court.

Pegula entered New York in poor form, having only won two of her previous four matches and having lost four of her first six major matches.

The quarter-finals presented a different challenge than the routine victories over Mayar Sharif, Anna Blinkova, Victoria Azarenka, and Ann Li.

Pegula has previously struggled with this situation; her only other Grand Slam singles draw came last year when she reached the US Open final.

Pegula, however, was unruffled by her 1-6 record, leveraging Krejcikova’s slow start to take the game-to-three advantage, including breaking her heart in the third game.

She regularly attacked the net to keep her opponent off balance, hitting deep groundstrokes to elude her opponent at the back of the court, and dominated the baseline exchanges.

Even though Krejcikova won the game 4-3, she was left to rue a subpar serving performance, with a double fault at 40-30 opening the door for Pegula to break once more in the eighth game before closing the set.

Krejcikova continued to struggle with her serving, winning only 28% of her points on her second game of the opener, and Pegula was given a quick break by a pair of double faults at the start of the second set.

In the sixth game, Pegula gave up a double break lead as Krejcikova snuck another unlikely comeback, but she was also dealing with her own service issues.

However, she stayed composed and pegged the match point that Pegula seized at the first attempt thanks to Krejcikova’s seventh double fault of the afternoon.

“I believe I’ve been playing some excellent tennis,” she said. Pegula praised his performance and my solid play.