A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
U.S. Open tennis tournament - only two women remain. Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula won their matches yesterday to set up the finals tomorrow. The men will decide their finals match-up later today. Courtney Nguyen is senior writer for WTA Insider. She joins us now. So Courtney, you were there, watching both the women's semifinals. And the level of play in both matches meant that really, it probably could have gone either way. I mean, tell us what you saw.
COURTNEY NGUYEN: Yeah, you're exactly right, A. I think that the margins were so slim between - in both of these semifinals, and it's not surprising that ultimately, it was the veterans that came through. And there was a very, very interesting night. It was an exciting night in New York, and with Aryna Sabalenka coming back, has unfinished business after kind of choking a little bit, I think, against Coco Gauff last year in the final, so she's back to try and go one better. And then really one of the big stories of the year, which is Jessica Pegula - born in Buffalo, obviously has the New York ties, but making her first Grand Slam final at 30 years old. It's a pretty remarkable story. And these two know each other well. They'll play each other on Saturday, and yeah, I'm not sure anybody knows which way it's going to go.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. I love 30 years old, we're calling them the veterans.
(LAUGHTER)
MARTÍNEZ: The veterans of tennis at a ripe old age of 30, right?
NGUYEN: Sports are cruel that way.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah. Yeah. So...
NGUYEN: Absolutely.
MARTÍNEZ: ...You mentioned Pegula. Tell us about her backstory.
NGUYEN: Yeah. Jessica Pegula, her family is obviously in sports. Her father owns the Buffalo Bills. They also - the family owns the Buffalo Sabres. And she's kind of grown up within the sport, but as a late bloomer. It hasn't been within the - until the last maybe five years or so that we've really seen her make the big leap forward. And in the last four years, she's been an absolute stalwart in the top 10, top five, been there just kind of as an absolute grinder on tour - you know, always making it into the latter stages, except for at Grand Slams.
So she comes into New York. She's 0 and 6 at major quarter finals. She's playing the No. 1 player in the world, Iga Swiatek. She absolutely routes her. And since then, she's been kind of unstoppable. Great match last night; came from a set down, really looked absolutely on the brink of bowing out, but forged ahead, and that was really the hallmark of Jess' career over the last few years. It's just - she is a very, very tough out, and she sticks with it all the way through the end, and she's being rewarded now.
MARTÍNEZ: And she's from the great state of New York, so I'm sure the crowd knows that.
NGUYEN: Absolutely, absolutely. She's been playing into that. She's been riding the subway to the tournament, which kind of blows everybody's mind, that this daughter of billionaires is doing this. But I think it's really endeared her to the Manhattan crowd, which she reminds everybody, look, I'm not from Manhattan. I'm from Buffalo, which is slightly different. But it's been really, really heartwarming.
MARTÍNEZ: So let me ask you this with the time we have left. I mean, everyone at the U.S. Open, great athletes, but am I a jerk to think that there is no superstar sizzle left at the U.S. Open? I mean, it just - I don't know.
NGUYEN: (Laughter).
MARTÍNEZ: Maybe I want Serena back. I don't know what I want, Courtney, but I don't know. I - the star power.
NGUYEN: The star power is the issue. You know, we love Serena. We love Roger. They come. You know, they're sitting in the stands. The crowd goes crazy. But right now, we're seeing a really big generational shift in the sport. And this is the first time, for example, in over 20 years that there's going to be an American man in a U.S. Open major final.
MARTÍNEZ: Yeah.
NGUYEN: You know, we're seeing, you know, the first time in over 20 years that a player in the top - in the big three - Roger, Rafa, Novak - hasn't won a major. So it's beginning to shift.
MARTÍNEZ: All right (laughter).
NGUYEN: And those stars are coming.
MARTÍNEZ: That's Courtney Nguyen, covering the U.S. Open for the WTA Insider. Thank you, Courtney.
NGUYEN: No problem. Thank you.
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