With ease, Aryna Sabalenka advances to the US Open semifinals and assures her supporters that she will compete for the title.

No. 2 The runner-up from the US Open the previous year, Aryna Sabalenka, lost just three games to Qinwen Zheng on Tuesday night to advance to the semifinals at Flushing Meadows for the fourth consecutive year.

The first matchup between players rated in the top 10 on the women’s side at this year’s US Open took place in the quarterfinal between Sabalenka and No. 7 Zheng, a replay of the Australian Open final that Sabalenka won in January.

In front of Roger Federer, who was watching the US Open for the first time since his retirement, Sabalenka won 6-1, 6-2 to set up a clash with Emma Navarro on Thursday. Sabalenka put on a characteristically strong performance.

Sabalenka was defeated by American Coco Gauff in the Flushing final a year ago.

The 26-year-old Belarusian then repeated the request to the thousands of onlookers, saying, “Please give me some support in the next match.”

Sabalenka is attempting to make history by being the first female champion of the Australian Open and US Open hard courts since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

 

On Wednesday, the matchups in the other women’s semifinal—No. 1 Iga Swiatek versus No. 6 Jessica Pegula and No. 22 Beatriz Haddad Maia versus the unseeded Karolina Muchova—will be determined.

 

With at least ten matches, Sabalenka’s win % in major quarterfinals is now 9-1, which is the second-best among women since the Open era began in 1968. She has more major semifinal appearances than any other women’s player since the beginning of 2021—nine total.

 

The trio of matches