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A well-timed rain delay looked like it might save Sabalenka, who was one set down and behind 3-1 in a second-set tie-break when the weather interfered in Germany.

Sabalenka's game had been error-strewn up to that point, and she let out a huge cry of frustration after a double-fault shortly before the heavens opened to pause the tie-break.

A two-hour, 19-minute delay looked to have served Sabalenka well as she came out a player transformed, winning six of the next seven points to force a deciding set.

But the momentum suddenly switched again, with Pegula showing her class to clinch a stunning bagel and tee up a final meeting with Linda Noskova, who beat Alexandra Eala 6-2 6-4 in the other semi-final.

No.3 seed Pegula was put under pressure in her first service game of the third set, but she only dropped one further point on serve while breaking at every opportunity, converting her third match point when Sabalenka's attempted forehand up the line rippled the net.

"I told myself after I ended up losing that second-set tiebreak that before the rain delay, I had a lot of momentum. She just hit a double fault. I felt like I kind of had it there and I was serving well," 2024 Berlin champion Pegula said.

"I was in a good rhythm, and then having to get off court and losing that pretty quickly – only winning one point in the tiebreak was a little tough.

"But she's number one in the world for a reason and I feel like I gave her too many easy shots and she went for it and that's just what happens."