A forlorn wave from a crestfallen Jessica Pegula as she exits stage left. She remains without a Grand Slam title; at 32, she knows the years will start to tick for her as an elite level athlete.

For the third successive US Open, she is beaten by Aryna Sabalenka. When the top seed started getting her power strokes in on a regular basis, Pegula never looked like having a response.

Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

I hope Pegula doesn't think she's played bad because she hasn't. I just think Pegula has just been pummelled by someone who has just put rage into every ball.

Pegula made only five unforced errors in set one, but plops in her eighth of the second with a loose forehand. A sign of how this match has unfolded for her.

30-30, Pegula goes narrowly long after a rally started by a weak 80mph second serve.

Match point to the champion...

A slight delay in play as the umpire is unhappy with the quality of some of the balls in play. Not what Pegula would want as she serves to stay in the US Open.

British duo Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid have just reached the final of the men's wheelchair doubles, beating Gustavo Fernandez and Tokito Oda in a match tie-break.

Hewett and Reid are going for a sixth US Open doubles title together as a partnership. They'll face Spain's Martin de la Puente and Dutch player Ruben Spaargaren in the final.

Earlier in the day, Japan's Oda beat Reid 6-1 6-0 in their singles quarter-final. Oda is the top seed and defending champion in that event.

Hewett, the second seed, defeated American Casey Ratzlaff 6-2 6-0 to reach the last four.

Jess Pegula was on top in the longer points in the first set thanks to her shot-making craft, but the power of Aryna Sabalenka has overwhelmed her in the second.

Case in point, Pegula tries to deceive Sabalenka with a cross forehand which would have made it 30-30 - but Sabalenka reads it and returns it with force to near the American's feet, she'll never return that.

Sabalenka holds, and is one game from the final.

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Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

I definitely think Pegula is in this match. There is just so much emotion bubbling away.

Better from Pegula, a 95mph ace out wide, before she holds.

Interestingly, despite her issues on serve, Pegula has not double faulted once in this match yet. That is as indicative as anything as to the lack of risks taken by her in this match.

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Jessica Pegula was solid if not spectacular in this first set, but even that has deserted her in the second set. Just 60% of first serve points won illustrates her problem - the basics are proving elusive.

Another weak serve is dismissed by Sabalenka to take us to deuce.

A reminder that Aryna Sabalenka has not won a major title this year and has been, by her own high standards, in pretty rotten form before the US Open.

You would not think that watching her tonight. She consolidates the break with a hold to 30.

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Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

It is like Sabalenka's team are not engaging with her right now.

She is rushing Pegula and making her play catch up. It is like she is playing tennis with a mallet right now.

Aryna Sabalenka knows this is a clutch moment, the type she thrives on. A forehand winner down the line earns a third break point.

Sabalenka pulls Pegula from tramline to tramline, she has a chance to place a winner in open court... but finds the net and falls to her haunches!

A quick recovery from Sabalenka, setting up break point number four in this game as Pegula can't find her first serve.

And another weak second serve, 77mph, this time is dispatched. Sabalenka is in total control.

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Billie Jean King appears on the big screen, holding court in one of the executive boxes. When she speaks, you listen.

On court, Aryna Sabalenka moves onto 20 winners in this match with a huge two-handed backhand. Jess Pegula only has seven so far.

Two break points Sabalenka, as a second serve from Pegula is too weak. Could this be a pivotal moment?

Pegula responds well with a cross-court forehand to save the first break point. The crowd responds.

And Sabalenka goes long! Deuce.

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18 winners, 16 unforced errors. Aryna Sabalenka has not been boring to watch so far. She gives a theatrical shrug as she puts a slice long - following it with a double fault, her third of the match.

But the fact is she is going for the big shots, while Pegula has been quite timid in this match - not enough risks, which has played into the often intimidating Arthur Ashe crowd being quite subdued at this stage.

Sabalenka holds to 30.

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Aryna Sabalenka is still capable of some absolute dross in this match. A lazy drop shot flops into the net.

But she follows that up with a sensational backhand down the line. Her 18th winner of the match.

Pegula still holds though, to 15.

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Aryna Sabalenka is 32-3 when she wins the first set at the US Open.

A rare drop shot from Pegula draws Sabalenka to the net - but the American gets the follow up passing shot all wrong.

It's details like that which can define a Grand Slam, and Sabalenka is getting the better in the clutch moments so far.

She holds to 15.

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Annabel Croft
Former British number one on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra 2

Sabalenka is playing like a woman who is possessed. There is fear in her eyes.

Her facial expressions were just fear and terror for most of the back end of that set and somehow that just got to Pegula. That was breathtaking stuff.

It was like the more possessed Sabalenka looked, the harder she was hitting.

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