Tennis-Pegula knocks up Sabalenka to set up Berlin final with Noskova

World number one Aryna Sabalenka suffered a setback in her Wimbledon preparations, losing to American Jessica Pegula in the Berlin Open semi-finals 6-4 6-7(4) 6-0.

World number one Aryna Sabalenka's Wimbledon ​preparations suffered a setback after she was ​beaten by American Jessica Pegula ‌6-4 6-7(4) ​6-0 in the Berlin Open semi-finals.

Pegula will face Linda Noskova in the final after the Czech eighth seed ended the run ‌of Filipino Alexandra Eala with a 6-2 6-4 victory. Sabalenka, who exited the French Open in the quarter-finals, struggled to find her rhythm after a slow start, and Pegula took the opening set ‌following an early break.

After a rain delay, Sabalenka took the second-set tiebreak before Pegula ‌reasserted control to race through the decider. "I told myself after I ended up losing that second-set tiebreak that before the rain delay, I had a lot of momentum. She just hit a double fault. I felt like ⁠I kind ​of had it there ⁠and I was serving well," said 2024 Berlin champion Pegula.

"I was in a good rhythm, and then having ⁠to get off court and losing that pretty quickly -- only winning one point in the tiebreak was a ​little tough. "But she's No. 1 in the world for a reason and I feel ⁠like I gave her too many easy shots and she went for it and that's just what happens."

All four ⁠of ​the Belarusian's Grand Slam titles — her most recent at the 2025 U.S. Open — have come on hard courts, and she is still chasing a first Wimbledon crown after three ⁠semi-final runs. She lost this year's Australian Open final to Elena Rybakina, a year after finishing runner-up ⁠to American Madison ⁠Keys.

Noskova made a dominant start, securing an early break to swiftly win the first set. Eala ran out of ideas in the second as ‌Noskova secured ‌the win.