US Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Qinwen Zheng to reach semi-finals, will face Marketa Vondrousova or Madison Keys next
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Updated 06/09/2023 at 18:12 GMT
If the backend of a Grand Slam is about conserving your energy, then soon-to-be world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka did just that in sweeping aside China's Qinwen Zheng in just over an hour inside Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday. Zheng, appearing in her first-ever major quarter-final, was steamrollered in the first set, and though she fought gamely in the second, Sabalenka saw it out in straight sets.
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Aryna Sabalenka raced past Qinwen Zheng 6-1 6-4 to reach the US Open semi-finals after a dominant performance that showcased all of her credentials for a first Flushing Meadows crown.
Sabalenka, the incoming No. 1 after Iga Swiatek’s last-16 exit, maintained her record of not dropping a set as she won in just 73 minutes.
The Belarusian won the Australian Open earlier in the year and is into the semis in New York for the third season in a row - without a final appearance yet.
“I think I definitely played great tennis today,” Sabalenka said of her performance on court.
“I’m super happy with the win against her, she played incredible tennis at the US Open this year.”
Discussing her promotion to world No. 1 for the first time next week, she added: “Of course I’m happy and, as I said in the previous on-court interview, it’s incredible for me and my family.
"But I have some things still to do in New York this year and I’ll think about becoming No. 1 after the US Open.”
Zheng's last match saw her battle past world No. 5 Ons Jabeur, with the 20-year-old on her way to becoming one of the most promising young players on the tour, regardless of defeat here.
The first game went with serve as Sabalanka’s clean strokes help her hold, and she then pulled her opponent across the court as she broke at the earliest opportunity, helped by an error from Zheng, who clipped the net to lose the game.
It became 3-0 with the points standing at 12-2 in a relentless, one-sided opening.
In the fourth game, Sabalenka dashed forward to wrap up a point with a powerful winner, then delivered similar aggression from deeper to close out the break, before adding another on her service, before Zheng was able to hold her first service game of the match with some accurate forehands.
Sabalenka then resumed her nerveless approach to serving and took the first set in just 28 minutes.
The second was tougher for Sabalenka, as Zheng held again in the opening stages of the second set, and then dropped just a single point in her third service game of the set to move the scores to 3-2, showing much more fight and poise than she had in the first set.
However, Zheng was unable to force a break, and when she sent one effort long after a series of errors on her serve, she was broken for the first time in the second set, leaving Sabalenka just two games from victory.
Sabalenka held her serve with typical ruthlessness - after an atypical double fault - to leave all the pressure on Zheng to stay in the match.
In line with her gradual improvement during the encounter, Zheng held, but not before giving up a match point that Sabalenka passed up with a rare unforced error, before eventually winning through on her own serve.
Sabalenka will face either Marketa Vondrousova or Madison Keys in the last four.
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