Aryna Sabalenka has reached her second consecutive US Open women’s singles final by beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) with her usual brand of high-risk, high-reward tennis.
The No 2 seed came up a victory short of claiming the championship a year ago when losing to Coco Gauff in front of a partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium, but refused to let another American opponent get too comfortable in this semi-final.
When things got tight in the second set and spectators suddenly got quite loud while supporting Navarro, the 2023 runner-up found herself flashing back to a year ago at the same site.
“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.”
Sabalenka moved into her second consecutive final at Flushing Meadows with a strong start and a late surge, but Navarro did not fold even when on the ropes in the second set. Despite trailing for much of the match, and as the noise around her grew, Navarro broke when Sabalenka served for the victory at 5-4.
“I wasn’t ready for the match to be over,” Navarro said.
But in the tiebreaker that followed, Sabalenka took over after Navarro led 2-0, grabbing every point that remained.
“I kind of got my teeth into it there at the end of the second set,” Navarro said, “and I felt I could definitely push it to a third. Wasn’t able to do so.”
Sabalenka will play for the trophy on Saturday against No 6 seed Jessica Pegula or unseeded Karolina Muchova.
“I’m ready to face whoever,” Sabalenka said. “Lesson from last year learned. I really hope I’m going to do a little bit better than I did last year.”
Navarro upset Gauff in the fourth round on the way to a first grand slam semi-final, where she displayed the skills and steadiness that carried her there. Even when the 23-year-old broke to 5-all late, there wasn’t really any way to tell what had just happened by looking at Navarro. The sounds from the seats were an indication.
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But soon, thousands of ticket-holders were saluting Sabalenka for her latest show of mastery on a hard court; she’s now into her fourth straight final at a major held on that surface.
“Well, guys, now you are cheering for me,” Sabalenka said with a laugh during her on-court interview. “Well, it’s a bit too late.”
By the end of the contest, Sabalenka had produced 34 winners and 34 unforced errors – punctuating most of her groundstrokes with a yell – while Navarro had 13 winners and 13 unforced errors.
Sabalenka showed she is not simply a swing-from-the-heels power player, even if that is the foundation of her game. She delivered one perfectly timed return winner to help break for a 4-2 lead early. She then 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. A break to go up 3-2 seemingly put Sabalenka in charge of the second set, too, but Navarro made a stand. In the end, it wasn’t enough.
