Second seed Aryna Sabalenka staged a Grand Slam fight back for the ages to rock Madison Keys 0-6 7-6(1) 7-6(5) on Thursday to deny the home crowd the all-American U.S. Open women's final they had been dreaming of.
Sabalenka will now try to heap even more disappointment on US tennis fans in Saturday's final when she takes on Coco Gauff, who beat Karolina Muchova 6-4 7-5 in a match halted for nearly an hour when an environmental activist glued his feet to the floor of Arthur Ashe Stadium.
A giddy capacity crowd waving U.S. flags were ready to celebrate getting the final they hoped for when Keys bageled the Belarusian in the opening set and was 5-3 up in the second, serving for a spot in the final.
But Sabalenka had other ideas.
Her fight back began by breaking Keys to get back to 5-4 and continuing the match. It would end two tie-breaks later with the Belarusian walking off court into her second Grand Slam final of the season.
In a contest featuring two of the biggest hitters in the women's game, it was Keys coming out with guns blazing to dominate the Belarusian, who will take over as world number one when the rankings are updated on Monday.
Soaking up the energy of the home crowd, the 17th seed unleashed a barrage of winners and broke Sabalenka three times to open the match 6-0.
Keys broke the Australian Open champion for a fourth time for a 2-1 lead in the second, leaving a frustrated Sabalenka screaming and smashing her racquet.
But with Keys serving for a place in the final the Sabalenka who players fear finally appeared.
The Belarusian got her first break of match as the set went to a tie-break which she won 7-1, sending the contest to a third set that minutes earlier no one saw coming.
With the tension rising so did the quality of the match, the players trading breaks in a tight third set that came down to a super tie-breaker which Sabalenka again dominated 10-5.
Meanwhile, Gauff said she held no animosity toward the protesters who interrupted her match against Muchova, though she did think their timing could have been a lot better.
After winning the first set and taking the opening game of the second, the match was halted when four protesters began shouting from the stands.
Three were escorted out of the venue without further incident but a fourth "affixed their bare feet to the floor" of the stadium, the USTA said.
"It was done in a peaceful way, so I can't get too mad at it," Gauff said. "Obviously I don't want it to happen when I'm winning up 6-4 1-0, and I wanted the momentum to keep going.
"But hey, if that's what they felt they needed to do to get their voices heard, I can't really get upset at it."
The 19-year-old is no stranger to social activism, speaking out at a protest following the death of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man killed in police custody in the United States, three years ago.
While she said she was not clear on the precise nature of Thursday's environmental protest, Gauff said she believed that climate change was real and supports "preaching about what you feel and what you believe in".
"Would I prefer it not happening in my match? 100%, yeah," said Gauff. "I'm not going to sit here and lie. But it is what it is."
It was not the first time this season that activists have interrupted a tennis major, after 'Just Stop Oil' protesters disrupted play at Wimbledon.
