(Cancún) Jessica Pegula dominated Flushing Meadows champion Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday, coming within one victory of winning the WTA Finals.
It was the first time that Pegula, aged 29 and 10 years older than Gauff, had qualified for the final of the season-ending tournament.
The semifinal between the Americans was tied 2-2 when fifth-seeded Pegula won six straight games to take a 6-2, 2-0 lead against third-seeded Gauff.
It was the first time two Americans had met in the semifinals since 2002, when Serena Williams beat Jennifer Capriati.
Pegula won all eight rounds she competed this week. She is the first since Williams, in 2012, to reach the final without losing a set.
On Sunday, Pegula will play against the world’s first racket, Aryna Sabalenka, or the second in the world, Iga Swiatek.
Sabalenka and Swiatek faced each other later in the evening on Saturday.