Sabalenka loses – Aryna Sabalenka lost the deciding set 6-0 to Jessica Pegula in Berlin as Pegula battled back after a tight second set to reach the final. The win also sets up Pegula against Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala, while Emma Navarro and Marie Bouzkova won their own s
The moment Berlin could have turned for Aryna Sabalenka, it didn’t.
After a second set that took real damage-control to survive, Sabalenka entered the deciding set still alive in the match. But for the next stretch, she never found a rhythm. Jessica Pegula stepped on the accelerator and took it 6-0. ending with a scoreline that made the turnaround feel almost unreal.
Pegula, the world number one’s opponent in this Berlin Open semifinal, had recovered from losing a tight second set. She finished the match 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-0, turning a contest into a one-way run once the third set began. Sabalenka never looked settled against her, and Pegula’s flat shots and superb return of serve kept Sabalenka pinned.
It was another reminder of how deciding sets have gone for Sabalenka at the worst possible moments. This wasn’t just another loss that happened late—it matched a pattern that is now starting to sting: she also lost the third set 6-0 in her French Open quarter-final after squandering a set and double break lead.
There was a human edge to this one from Pegula’s side, too. The American had lost five of her past six matches against Sabalenka. yet this time she didn’t drift when the pressure rose. In the second set, she was down 5-2 and still found a way back. She forced a tie-break, led 3-1 inside it, and then the match paused when rain delayed play for an hour.
When they returned, momentum shifted fast. Sabalenka won six of the next seven points to force a deciding set—only for Pegula to dominate what came next. By the time the third set arrived, the scoreboard read 6-0, and the top seed was left explaining what had happened to her game.
Sabalenka’s numbers told the story even more plainly. She finished with 41 unforced errors to Pegula’s 25. Nine double faults and a first-serve percentage of 62% didn’t help her chances either.
Pegula, 32, spoke after the match with the steadiness of someone who has learned to handle both pressure and expectation without turning every moment into a spectacle.
“She came out and ripped a bunch of winners and I told myself ‘I guess I wanted to win in the hard way anyway’,” Pegula said.
“I don’t get super emotional. People used to tell me when I was younger that I need to yell more and jump up and down.”
“Honestly, it feels like a waste of energy to me. I just try to be myself.”
Now Pegula will play for the Berlin Open title on Sunday against either Czech Linda Noskova or Alexandra Eala of the Philippines.
For Sabalenka, the loss is another setback wrapped in a wider question: she will still be among the favourites at Wimbledon, which begins on 29 June, but she has managed to beat a top-10 player only once in five attempts on a grass court. Berlin didn’t settle that uncertainty—it sharpened it.
The rest of the draw carried its own momentum.
Emma Navarro continued her recent run of form to reach the Nottingham Open final, where she will face Marie Bouzkova. Navarro had been inside the world’s top 10 in 2024 but lost nine of her first 13 matches this year. After taking a break for health struggles. she won the Strasbourg Open in May and has now reached a second final of the season. Her semifinal victory came against Swiss Viktorija Golubic, 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.
Bouzkova earned her place on Sunday’s grass-court stage by beating compatriot and former world number one Karolina Pliskova 6-4 6-1, reaching her first grass-court singles final.
Berlin delivered a sharp kind of disappointment for Sabalenka—one set she couldn’t win, followed by a deciding set that slipped away without her finding a single break point. Pegula didn’t just win; she took the match the moment it opened, and now she’s one victory away from a title.
Aryna Sabalenka Jessica Pegula Berlin Open Wimbledon deciding set Linda Noskova Alexandra Eala Emma Navarro Marie Bouzkova Karolina Pliskova Viktorija Golubic semifinal
6-0 in the third is brutal, wow.
So Sabalenka collapsed because of the rain break?? Like the weather totally flipped it. I don’t even think Pegula did anything special besides survive.
Pegula up 5-2 then somehow lost a set?? Tennis scoring is so confusing. Also 4-7 in the tiebreak sounds like she got robbed but then comes back and goes 6-0? makes no sense to me.
I feel like Sabalenka always gets in her own head late. Like she’s fine until the third set and then suddenly it’s over, same thing as French Open or whatever. Meanwhile Pegula always plays better when it’s already decided, idk, just a vibe.