Aryna Sabalenka edges even closer to third grand slam win at US Open

Aryna Sabalenka has inched closer to her first US Open title after breezing into the semi-final.

The world number two, who was beaten at Flushing Meadows last year by Coco Gauff, proved to be too much for Olympic champion Qinwen Zheng to handle in a repeat of the Australian Open final in Melbourne.

The Belarusian was victorious, getting the better of her Chinese opponent with a final score of 6-1 6-2.

Sabalenka will now meet 13th seed Emma Navarro as she enters the stage of the final four in New York on Saturday and must come out on top to nab a third career grand slam.

Not many players can cope with Sabalenka’s raw power, which was evident as the US Open match quickly became a one-way street, where the Belarussian won the first three games.

Sabalenka wrapped up her victory against her Chinese opponent in little over an hour.

“Against someone like her, she is such an aggressive player and that advantage at the start to the match was helpful,” Sabalenka said.

“She is playing such incredible tennis and it was very tough facing her.”

When Sabalenka was asked how she could get the crowd to support her in her upcoming game against America’s Navarro, she replied: “Drinks on me, tonight? Drinks on me, and please give me some support in the next match.”

Earlier, Navarro had full belief she would win her quarter-final against Paula Badosa in straight sets.

The US player followed up her fourth-round win over defending champion Coco Gauff with a 6-2 7-5 success over the Spaniard to reach a grand slam semi-final for the first time.

It looked certain to go the distance, however, as Badosa was 5-1 up in the second set.

However, Navarro sensed Badosa would wobble and she went on to win 24 of the last 28 points in the match.

“Even though she was up 5-1, after that game, I felt like she wasn’t totally confident in her ability to close out that set,” Navarro said.

“I felt like if I could push back a little bit and make her think a little bit on her service game, maybe I could sneak my way back in there.

“Sometimes you’re out in the court, and you can picture yourself playing a third set.

“When I was out there, I didn’t picture myself playing a third set.”

“I felt I could come back and do it in two.”

Badosa, who is still making her way back from a serious back injury, described her performance as a “disaster”.