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Aryna Sabalenka believes her time has arrived at the US Open as she closes in on a long-awaited first title.
Sabalenka is back in the final 12 months after one of her darkest days when she let a first-set lead slip to lose the showpiece event to Coco Gauff.
She faces another American in the shape of Jessica Pegula on Saturday, who she beat in the final of a warm-up event in Cincinnati, and is ready to banish bad memories.
“I had really tough lessons here in the past, really as I think I had so many opportunities but I didn’t use them for different reasons,” she said. “I wasn’t ready. Then I got emotional. Then I just couldn’t handle the crowd.
“So many times I felt like I just missed the opportunity, and every time I come back here I really enjoy being in New York.
“I enjoy these courts, I enjoy the crowd, I enjoy playing in this beautiful stadium in front of the crowd. I enjoy the city, the time on the court.
“Every time I come back here, I have this positive thinking, like, ‘Come on, maybe this time’.
“Every time I’m hoping that one day I’ll be able to hold that beautiful trophy.
“The tough losses never made me feel depressed or think of not coming back to the tournament.
“It’s only motivated me to come back and to try one more time, try harder and maybe, like, work harder on some things which maybe didn’t work in the past.
“I’m still hoping to hold that beautiful trophy.”
She will again have to face an Arthur Ashe crowd who will be cheering on a home favourite after Pegula booked her first career grand slam final, coming from a set and a break down to Karolina Muchova.
The 30-year-old, who had lost all six of her previous grand slam quarter-finals, was a relative latecomer to the sport but will get to live out a dream.
“It’s amazing. It’s a childhood dream. It’s what I wanted when I was a kid,” she said.
“It’s a lot of work, a lot of hard work put in. You couldn’t even imagine how much goes into it.
“It would mean the world to me to win, obviously. I’m just happy to be in a final, but obviously I come here to want to win the title.
“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year I’d be in the finals of the US Open, I would have laughed so hard, because that just was where my head was, was not thinking that I would be here.
“So to be able to overcome all those challenges and say that I get a chance at the title on Saturday is what we play for as players, let alone being able to do that in my home country here, in my home slam. It’s perfect, really.”
