Aryna Sabalenka moved into her second consecutive US Open final by beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday night with her usual brand of high-risk, high-reward tennis.
The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who won each of the past two Australian Opens, came up a victory short of claiming the championship at Flushing Meadows a year ago, when she lost toThis time, Sabalenka got past another American opponent, the 13th-seeded Navarro -- and never let the spectators play too much of a role until things got quite tight in the second set.
"I was like, 'OK, Aryna, you have to stay focused. Stay in your thoughts. Focus on yourself,'" Sabalenka said."And, yeah, I was thinking a lot."of the Czech Republic. The Pegula-Muchova semifinal was scheduled for later Thursday under the Ashe lights on a cool evening with only the slightest breeze. 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. This was her debut in a Slam semifinal and, while she displayed the skills and steadiness that carried her there, Navarro was not able to keep up with Sabalenka, who was playing in that round at a major for the ninth time.
She delivered one optimally timed return winner to help break for a 4-2 lead early. She offered up two terrifically delicate drop shots to earn points later in that set. When Navarro failed to get a return in play off a 100 mph serve, Sabalenka was halfway to the win.
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