The Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, number six in the world ranking, won this Wednesday 6-1 and 7-6 (4) in Czech Karolina Pliskova and qualified for the semifinals of US Open for the second year in a row.
Sabalenka is the first player to repeat the semifinals in Flushing Meadows since the American Serena Williams achieved it, in 2019 and 2020.
The Belarusian, who reached the quarterfinals after canceling two match points against the Estonian kaia kani In her journey, she needed one hour and 22 minutes to break Pliskova, number 22 in the world.
It was Sabalenka’s third win in five meetings with Pliskova and her first since 2018. Indeed, the Czech dominated last year at both Wimbledon and Montreal.
Sabalenka considered at the end of the match that in the last duels with Pliskova she jumped on the court without the necessary “respect” for her rival and the level that she knows how to express.
On Wednesday, the Belarusian played a complete game, with few unforced errors and, above all, without giving Pliskova break balls.
The work done with her coach to improve her serve movement, which focuses more on curve and ball positioning than power, paid big dividends in this tournament.
Added to this was his usual return aggressiveness, which allowed him to take the first set 6-1 in less than half an hour. With three breaks against Pliskova, Sabalenka has 26 so far in the tournament, in five games.
Pliskova raised the level of her serve in the second set, but Sabalenka was unable to hold serve and took the match to a tie break where she lost just two serve points. He won it 7-3 to secure his ticket to the semifinals in New York.
It’s been a year without chaining five consecutive victories on the ‘Tour’ and the last time will certainly be in this tournament.
A semifinal awaits him against the winner of the match between the Polish Iga Swiatek and the American Jessica Pegulaworld number one against number eight.
“It’s a semi-final and it will be tough. But I’m ready, I’m ready for a new battle,” said Sabalenka at the end of the match.
The other semifinals will measure the Tunisian Ounce Jabeur with the French Caroline Garciawho defeated Australian Ajla Tomljanovic and American Coco Gauff, respectively, on Tuesday.
The semifinals will be played this Thursday while this Saturday is the day of the finals.
In the men’s circuit, Norwegian Casper Ruud and Russian Karen Khachanov are in the semifinals.
Ruud, who could reach the first position in the world ranking in this tournament, eliminated the Italian Matteo Berrettini while Khachanov defeated the Australian Nick Kyrgios.
The other quarterfinals will be played this Wednesday, with duels between American Frances Tiafoe and Russian Andrey Rublev and between Spanish Carlos Alcaraz and Italian Jannik Sinner.
Source: La Verdad
I am Ida Scott, a journalist and content author with a passion for uncovering the truth. I have been writing professionally for Today Times Live since 2020 and specialize in political news. My career began when I was just 17; I had already developed a knack for research and an eye for detail which made me stand out from my peers.
