US Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Emma Navarro to reach her second consecutive final in New York
Aryna Sabalenka has reached her second consecutive U.S. Open final by beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) with her usual brand of high-risk, high-reward tennis
US Open: Aryna Sabalenka beats Emma Navarro to reach her second consecutive final in New York
Show all 15Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Aryna Sabalenka moved into her second consecutive U.S. Open final by taking the last seven points and beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday night with her usual brand of high-risk, high-reward tennis.
The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who won each of the past two Australian Opens, came up a victory short of claiming the championship at Flushing Meadows a year ago, when she lost to Coco Gauff in front of a loud partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
This time, Sabalenka got past another American opponent, the 13th-seeded Navarro — and never let the spectators play too much of a role until things got quite tight in the second set. Knowing she would be facing a player from the U.S. in this semifinal, Sabalenka joked after her previous match she would try to sway them to her side by buying booze, saying, " Drinks on me tonight? "
Navarro did not fold in the second set, despite trailing for much of it, and she broke when Sabalenka served for the victory at 5-4. But in the tiebreaker that followed, after Navarro led 2-0, Sabalenka took over, grabbing every point that remained.
Sabalenka will play for the trophy on Saturday against yet another American, No. 6 Jessica Pegula, or unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic. The Pegula-Muchova semifinal was scheduled for later Thursday under the Ashe lights on a cool evening with only the slightest breeze.
For Muchova, that was going to be her fourth appearance in the final four at a Grand Slam tournament, including runs to that stage in New York and to the final of the French Open last year. Pegula had been 0-6 in Grand Slam quarterfinals until eliminating No. 1 Iga Swiatek, a five-time major champion, in straight sets Wednesday night.
___
AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.