American Jessica Pegula beats world number one after recovering from losing a tight second set to come through 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-0 to reach Sunday’s Berlin Open final.
Pegula had lost five of her past six matches against Sabalenka, but her flat shots and superb return of serve anchored her performance this time around.
For Sabalenka, it is another disappointing deciding-set performance, having lost the third set of her French Open quarter-final 6-0 after squandering a set and double break lead.
Pegula had fought back from 5-2 down in the second set to force a tie-break and led 3-1 before rain delayed play for an hour.
When they returned, Sabalenka won six of the next seven points to force a deciding set – only for Pegula to dominate the top seed.
“She came out and ripped a bunch of winners, and I told myself, I guess I wanted to win in the hard way anyway,” Pegula, 32, said.
Belarusian Sabalenka never looked settled against Pegula, as she lost another deciding set without winning a game against the American.
“I don’t get super emotional. People used to tell me when I was younger that I needed to yell more and jump up and down.
“Honestly, it feels like a waste of energy to me. I just try to be myself,” Pegula said.
Pegula is expected to face either Czech Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines in Sunday’s final.
Sabalenka finished with 41 unforced errors to Pegula’s 25, while nine double faults and a first-serve percentage of 62% did not help her.
She will be among the favourites at Wimbledon, which begins on 29 June – but she has still only beaten a top-10 player once in five attempts on a grass court.
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