‘Divine’ Goff and ‘Power’ Sabalenka will face battle in the US Open Women’s Singles Championship Final Showdown.
World No. 2 Arina Sabalenka (Belarus) and home-court favorite Coco Goff (No. 6-USA) will face off for the title of women’s singles champion at the US Open ($65 million), the last major tennis tournament of the year.
Goff defeated 10th-ranked Karolina Muhova (Czech Republic) 2-0 (6-4 7-5) in two hours and three minutes in the women’s singles semifinals on the 12th day of the tournament at the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City, USA.
Sabalenka’s 2-1 (0-6 7-6<7-1> 7-6<10-5>) come-from-behind victory over No. 17 Madison Keys (USA) in a two-hour, 32-minute semifinal match that went to two tiebreaks completed the final lineup.
The 19-year-old Goff, born in 2004, is being touted as the next big thing in American tennis.
At Wimbledon in 2019, she became the youngest player in history to qualify at 15 years, 122 days old.
With her steady rise, Goff was recognized as one of the “next big things” when she finished runner-up at the French Open last year.
If Goff defeats Savalenka, she will become the first American to win the US Open in six years since Sloane Stephens (36th) in 2017.
The 5-foot-7 player is known for her quick feet and physical strength.
Goff’s opponent, Sabalenka, is a 6-foot-2 player with power that comes from her size.
She is one of the hardest hitting women’s players in the tournament, with a top speed of 196 kilometers per hour on her serve, which ranks second among all women competitors.
As her No. 2 ranking suggests, Sabalenka has been a consistent force in major singles in recent years.
She has reached the quarterfinals of six majors in the last three years. She reached the semifinals of five consecutive majors from last year’s US Open to this year’s US Open, and earlier this year she reached the final of a major for the first time in her career at the Australian Open.
Goff leads the head-to-head series 3-2. However, in their most recent meeting at this year’s Indian Wells Open, Savalenka won 2-0.
This is the first time both Goff and Sabalenka have reached the US Open singles final.
The final between Goff and Sabalenka will begin at 5 a.m. ET on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Goff had a chance to save a match point in the second set with Mujova leading 5-3.
Undeterred, Goff broke back for a 6-5 lead and rallied for a tournament-record 40 consecutive points before Mujova’s backhand sailed off the line to seal the match.
Goff was leading 1-0 in the second set when four environmentalists staged a surprise protest in the stands, causing the match to be suspended for about 40 minutes.
Three of them were ejected early, but one had his feet glued to the floor of the stands, which took a lot of time to clear.
“If that’s what the environmentalists felt they had to do to make their voices heard, I can’t be mad at them,” Goff said after the match.
Sabalenka dropped the first set to Keith 0-6 and looked to be out of the quarterfinals for the third year in a row, but she showed more mental toughness as she battled back to take the match to two tiebreaks.
In the third-set tiebreak, she made fans laugh when, after reaching seven points, she let go of her tennis racket in celebration, thinking she had secured her place in the final.
Tiebreaks are usually won by the first player to reach seven points, 카지노사이트넷 but in the final set of a major, they are played to 10 points.