Tuesday at the US Open was a bittersweet occasion for Aryna Sabalenka who is in the midst of her best-ever run at the tournament.
Playing under the lights on the Arthur Ashe stadium, the world No.2 defeated reigning French Open champion Barbora Krejčíková 6-1, 6-4, to book a spot in the semi-finals. Making it the second consecutive major tournament where she has reached the last four after Wimbledon. Prior to this year, Sabalenka had never gone beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam in her career.
“Hopefully I can keep it up. I’m really proud of myself and I’m really proud of my team that they are always working, they are always trying to find things where I can improve. This is what I am mostly proud of,” said Sabalenka.
“I’m here in the semifinal and I have another chance to show my best and to show my level on the court.”
It is perhaps the continuous look for improvement as to why the Belarussian has mixed feelings about her quarter-final win. Against Krejčíková, Sabalenka won 76% of her first service points but only 48% behind her second. Furthermore, she produced 23 unforced errors against 22 winners. Nevertheless, she dropped serve just once in the match and didn’t face a single break point during the second set.
Shortly after her victory, the 23-year-old returned to the practice courts to immediately tune up her game with the help of her team. After working with former player Dmitry Tursunov, she is now under the guidance of Anton Dubrov who was previously a long time hitting partner of hers.
“I feel like I didn’t move well and I needed extra balls kind of a little bit to move, a little bit to feel my legs, to feel the move, to feel the court,” Sabalenka replied when asked when she worked on during her brief practice session. “Also my serve was really I wouldn’t say terrible but was really bad. I was trying to find the rhythm. I needed these extra balls.”
Standing in Sabalenka’s way of a place in the final is tournament sensation Leylah Fernandez who is currently on a dream run. Coming into the US Open the Canadian had never gone beyond the third round of a major event. However, in New York she has scored wins over world No.1 Naomi Osaka, former champion Angelique Kerber and fifth seed Elina Svitolina.
“She’s playing well, moving well. I would say it’s nothing to lose for her,” Sabalenka commented on the 19-year-old. “She’s a great player. She’s fighting for every point. The crowd is there and they are supporting her really loudly.’
“It will be an interesting one. Really looking forward for this match.” She added.
Sabalenka has now won 43 matches this season which is more than any other player on the WTA Tour. Her semi-final clash with Fernandez will take place on Thursday.
