Aryna Sabalenka will play in a second straight US Open final after defeating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday.
Sabalenka won the last seven points of the match to prevail. She is seeking a third major title after winning the last two Australian Opens.
The 26-year-old second seed lost to American Coco Gauff last year at Flushing Meadows in front of a crowd that loudly supported the home favourite.
This time, the Belarusian brushed aside Navarro — another American — without letting the crowd play a role until the game tightened late in the second set. Knowing she was going to face an American in the semifinals, Sabalenka joked after her previous match that she would try to win the crowd over by buying their drinks.
Navarro never gave up in the second set, even though she trailed for most of the set. She broke when Sabalenka was serving for the win at 5-4. But in the tiebreaker, in which she took a 2-0 lead, Sabalenka took over, taking all the remaining points.
“I was like, ‘Okay, Aryna, you have to stay focused. Keep your head. Focus on yourself,’” Sabalenka said. “And yeah, I was thinking a lot.”
Sabalenka will face the winner of the other semi-final between sixth-seeded American Jessica Pegula and Czech Karolina Muchova in the final.
Muchova was set to play in her fourth Grand Slam semi-final tonight, after reaching France and the United States last year. Pegula was 0-6 in major quarter-finals before knocking out Polish seed Iga Swiatek on Wednesday.
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