Aryna Sabalenka crushes Zheng Qinwen to reach fourth US Open semifinal

World number two Aryna Sabalenka defeated Olympic gold medallist Zheng Qinwen to reach her fourth consecutive US Open semi-final on Tuesday. Australian Open champion Sabalenka, runner-up to Coco Gauff in New York last year, triumphed 6-1, 6-2 and will face Emma Navarro of the United States for a place in the final. It will be the ninth Grand Slam semi-final of her career for the 26-year-old from Belarus. She also defeated the Chinese star at the same stage of the 2023 US Open before beating the 21-year-old again in the Australian Open final in January.

“It was important that I could score early, that was an advantage because she is difficult to play against,” Sabalenka said after her 73rd-minute victory, in which Zheng scored only nine winning goals.

The 13th-seeded Navarro reached her first Grand Slam semifinal on Tuesday with a three-set win over Spain’s Paula Badosa.

Sabalenka and Navarro are 1-1 in their head-to-head matches, both clashes this season.

The American won at Indian Wells before Sabalenka emerged victorious at Roland Garros.

“If you guys cheer me on, the drinks are on me,” Sabalenka told the crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium in a bid to drum up support for the semi-final against New York-born Navarro.

“She’s a really good player. We had two fights, they were really close.”

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