If you were watching the NFL kickoff, you missed a stellar night of tennis, and the WTA players brought it for two spectacular semifinals.
Here is what happened.
- Jessica Pegula won the first set 6-4 coming from behind from 2-4 down.
- Aryna Sabalenka roared back in the second.
- A few points separated the two in the third with Sabalenka coming out victorious.
- Naomi Osaka sparkled in the first set and won a convincing tiebreak.
- Amanda Anisimova channeled her nerves to win the second set in a tiebreak and prevailed after 3 hours in 3 sets.
- Naomi Osaka suffered her first career loss in a Grand Slam semifinal.
American fans did not get the all-American final, but women’s tennis is well-represented by Sabalenka and Anisimova. Sabalenka is in her third final of the year and Anisimova her second.
Pegula and Osaka will be disappointed, but they played at such a high level that hopefully they can take pride in that.
When you lost 4 points on serve in the 3rd but you lost the match pic.twitter.com/KYHqfNBeJR
— Jessie Pegula (@JPegula) September 5, 2025
Farewell Cliff Drysdale
There was a lot of hard fought competition, but as much respect at the end of the matches. The players exchanged hugs and warm wishes. And the sendoff could not have been better for ESPN’s Cliff Drysdale, who at 84, called his last match tonight.
I love to watch the majors in tennis, especially the @usopen
Gonna miss Cliff Drysdale on the call. He’s been there for soooo long. And he’s soooo good.
Enjoy retirement, Mr. Drysdale. You’ll be missed by many. pic.twitter.com/CyYFmqnsHl— Father Tom Willis ✝️ (@StAugPastor) September 5, 2025
Sabalenka vs. Anisimova
We now wait until Saturday at 4 PM ET to answer the following questions.
Aryna Sabalenka will look to repeat.
Amanda Anisimova will look to win her home Grand Slam.
Here we go. pic.twitter.com/h6UHPrZ7gJ
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 5, 2025
- Will Sabalenka defend her US Open title? No one has done that in the past decade. It would be her first Grand Slam win of the year after difficult losses in the Australian Open final to Madison Keys and the French Open final to Coco Gauff.
- Can Anisimova keep her nerves together and let her racquet flow? She has a beautiful and powerful game that beat Sabalenka in the Wimbledon semifinals earlier in the summer.
- Could the US get their third American Grand Slam champion this year, and second maiden winner? That’s a heady proposition, and hopefully Anisimova is not thinking about that and focusing on herself and her game. She was so gracious in a bitter defeat at Wimbledon. This would be the ultimate redemption.
