Jessica Pegula powers past top seed Aryna Sabalenka to reach Berlin final

[p]The world number four will bid for her 12th WTA title, her second on the Berlin grass after her 2024 victory against either Czech [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/noskova-linda/zHMiAkw6/"]Linda Noskova[/a], ranked 13th, or Filipina wildcard [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/eala-alexandra/ppu9X7PH/"]Alexandre Eala[/a], who play the second semi-final.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/sabalenka-aryna/vyhksgUB/"]Sabalenka[/a] had been 9-3 in previous meetings against the American third seed but it was their first clash on grass.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/pegula-jessica/KdojxrAR/"]Pegula[/a] got off to a strong start, capitalising on Sabalenka's poor forehand with 10 unforced errors in the first three games.[/p][p][b]She broke serve to lead 2-1, then gave Sabalenka no chance on her serve, securing the set 6-4 in three-quarters of an hour.[/b][/p][embed guid="788ff737-9431-4afe-b761-192f9ccdfedd" url="https://x.com/WTA/status/2068344715548770472" social-type="twitter" /][p]The Belarusian took an early lead in the second set, breaking serve immediately, but looked shaky when it came to closing out the set and was pushed to a tiebreak which was interrupted by rain at 3-1 for the American on her opponent's serve.[/p][p]Two and a half hours later, the two players returned to the Steffi Graf court, and Sabalenka snatched the set, setting up a deciding third set.[/p][p][b]Pegula quickly pulled away in the deciding set, closing it out 6-0 after [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/tennis/pegula-j-KdojxrAR/sabalenka-a-vyhksgUB/?mid=CC4A2q0L"]two hours and 13 minutes on court[/a].[/b][/p][image alt="Match stats" id="d098caa8-0749-46ac-ab94-6c8ad2f4b72c" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="f6cb95bb-909d-48a5-9097-99217090d336" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]Eala, who upset world number two [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/rybakina-elena/UDzElXdm/"]Elena Rybakina[/a] in the last 16 and Queen's Club champion [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/vekic-donna/AsWv5414/"]Donna Vekic[/a] in the first round, will be looking to continue her fine form against eighth seed Noskova.[/p][p]The 21-year-old world number 35 is the first player from the Philippines to break into the top 50.[/p]