For 35 minutes during her US Open semifinal against Karolina Muchova at Arthur Ashe Stadium, Jessica Pegula was mentally absent and physically frozen. There was nothing she could do to stop the scoreboard from rolling in the wrong direction. Things were going downhill at supersonic speed. Pegula finally felt the fear – and her legs – and managed it anyway, coming back to win in three sets, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2. Somehow. Now she will face Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday’s final.

In the post-match interview on court, Pegula pointed to a crucial turning point when she was a set down, 0-2, and had a break point against her. Muchova missed a volley and the game changed. Is it really that moment that can rewrite the script and the half-written accounts of a devastating defeat? The engine finally whirred, the body started to move and the momentum was freer. The American fought instead of worried. It came just in time. “She made me look like a novice, I was about to burst into tears because it was embarrassing, she destroyed me. I was just able to keep it up until the end,” said the 30-year-old.

There must have been a flashback to that 1-6, 0-6 loss to Iga Swiatek in the WTA finals in November that lasted just under an hour. Pegula, playing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, lost eight of the first nine games. She could hardly win a point the way she wanted. People left the stadium to do something more interesting instead. It was as if the third victory over Swiatek in four quarterfinal encounters would be the high point of the tournament. This low point was not the right way to go home.

Pegula is no slacker, though. She has dealt with the cliches about her billionaire status her entire tennis life, as if that silver spoon is the one that turns everything else into a rainbow. Work ethic and cojones are harder to come by. Pegula had to dig deeper than a gold mine to stay afloat, while Muchova fired away like it was an exhibition match.

The most impressive thing about Pegula’s victory was how she held off a resurgent Czech, winning the final set 6-2. Statistically, Pegula has won 12 of her last 16 matches, but it was never easy for her. Muchova, a three-time Grand Slam semifinalist and the only woman to have come close to beating Swiatek in a Roland Garros final, refused to give up. Break points that could have given the Czech the victory back late in the night were lost. The New Yorker held on and took a deep breath.

Three weeks ago, Pegula beat the same opponent in Cincinnati after securing the Canadian Open title on a nine-match winning streak. She lost 6-3, 7-5 to Sabalenka in the Queen City, but showed enough. Unless the Belarusian wins 91 percent of her first serves, she will have chances.

At the 2024 US Open, Pegula has become a contender in the boardroom of the business world under strict interrogation. Even before the two weeks began, her stress was clearly noticeable: “You go into a Grand Slam tournament and I think to myself: ‘Oh man, I’ve played so well in the last few weeks. But now you want it even more at a Grand Slam tournament.’ So now you have to start all over again and the fear and all the stress just come back.”

Her resume is no longer dominated by the defeatist label of a six-time quarterfinalist. The scale has shifted. The profile is now that of a serious contender. She has won 15 of her last 16 matches. If Swiatek is the clay court queen, then Pegula is the heir to the hard court this summer. Only she earned the deal rather than relying on divine right.

She won’t be the favorite to face Sabalenka on Saturday at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the crowd will give her the stage. If Pegula can do it, her success will come with the most precious silver. There’s no butler who can hand it to you on a silver platter.