US Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Emma Navarro to reach her second consecutive final in New York
NEW YORK — Aryna Sabalenka reached her second consecutive US Open final by taking the last seven points and beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday night with her usual high-risk, high-reward tennis game.
Second-seeded Sabalenka, a 26-year-old Belarusian who has won each of the last two tournaments, Australian Opencame just short of claiming the championship at Flushing Meadows a year ago when she lost to Coco Gauff before a raucous, partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
This time Sabalenka managed to defeat another American opponent, the The 13th placed Navarro — and never let the spectators play too big a role until things got pretty tense in the second set. Knowing she would be facing a player from the US in this semifinal, Sabalenka joked after her previous match that she would try to get them on her side by buying drinks, saying: ” Should I have a drink tonight? “
Navarro did not give up in the second set, despite trailing for much of the set, and as the noise from the stands grew louder, she broke when Sabalenka was serving for the win at 5-4. But in the tiebreak that followed, after Navarro was leading 2-0, Sabalenka took over and took every point left.
Sabalenka will play another American, No. 6 Jessica Pegula, or unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for the trophy on Saturday. The semifinal between Pegula and Muchova was scheduled for later Thursday under the Ashe lights on a cool evening with only a slight breeze.
For Muchova, it would be her fourth appearance in the last four of a Grand Slam tournament, including runs to that stage in New York and to the final of the French Open last year. Pegula was 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals until eliminating #1 Iga Swiateka five-time major champion, in straight sets on Wednesday night.
Navarro, who defeated Gauff in the fourth round, is a 23-year-old who was born in New York, grew up in South Carolina and won an NCAA singles title for the University of Virginia in 2021. It was her debut in a Grand Slam semifinal, and while she showed the skill and tenacity that got her there, Navarro couldn’t keep up with Sabalenka, who was making her ninth appearance in that round at a major.
Sabalenka is as demonstrative as they come, often pumping her fist in the air and screaming after a big shot or rolling her eyes after a miss, but Navarro is much more subdued, rarely if ever betraying a trace of emotion, positive or negative.
Even when she reached 5-all late, there was no way to tell what had just happened by looking at Navarro. The sounds from the seats were an indication. But soon those fans were saluting Sabalenka for her latest show of mastery on a hard court.
From 2-2 in the opening set, Sabalenka won three games in a row to seize control of that set, repeatedly hitting shots beyond Navarro’s reach, often accompanied by a loud scream. By the end of the match, Sabalenka had produced 34 winners and 34 unforced errors — and in a fitting bit of symmetry, Navarro had 13 winners and 13 unforced errors.
Sabalenka also showed that she is not just a power player who hits the ball from one day to the next, even though that is the basis of her game.
She delivered an optimally timed return winner to help break for a 4-2 lead early in the set. She offered two wonderfully delicate drop shots to earn points later in the set. When Navarro failed to get a return in play from a 100 mph serve, Sabalenka was halfway to winning.
A break to take a 3-2 lead seemed to give Sabalenka the lead in the second set as well, but Navarro held on. Ultimately, it wasn’t enough.
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