By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday September 7, 2023
The No.2 seed survived an onslaught from Madison Keys to reach her second major final.
Photo Source: Matthew Stockman/Getty
Aryna Sabalenka started the season with a triumphant run to her maiden Grand Slam final at Melbourne, and she just may bookend her 2023 season with a second major.
The No.2-seeded Belarusian battled back from a set and break down to oust American Madison Keys, 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(10-5) in 2:32 to book a date with Coco Gauff in Saturday’s US Open women’s singles final.
The victory ends a run of hard luck for Sabalenka in Grand Slam semifinals. She entered Thursday night’s tussle with hard-hitting Keys touting an 0-2 record in US Open semifinals (both losses were 6-4 in the third) and a 1-5 record in major semifinals overall (with all five losses in three sets).
Overpowered by the booming power and precision of Keys bristling ground game in the early going, headstrong Sabalenka rebounded to earn a momentous victory and improve to 23-2 overall at the majors in this her best season.
It was an epic battle between first-strike aficionados.
Keys launched into attack mode from the get go and hit 12 winners to just three from Sabalenka as she took the opening set in 30 minutes.
“I had zero control in the match,” Sabalenka later admitted. “You just have to keep trying, keep staying there, and keep pushing it. Maybe you'll be able to turn around this game.
“Lucky me, somehow magically, I don't know how I was able to turn around this game.”
She led 4-2 and 5-3 in the second set but was broken at love while serving for the match and dropped the second-set tiebreaker, 7-1.
Keys, suffering from an upper leg injury, jumped ahead by a break again in the third (4-2) but Sabalenka reeled her back in and dominated the deciding-set tiebreak.
There was one hiccup, however. Sabalenka forgot that the tiebreak was a 10-pointer and broke into celebration after going ahead 7-3. She got right back on the horse and finished the match five points later.
“Honestly, I was thinking that if I'm going to lose this semifinal, I'll be struggling with sleeping for I don't know how many days, and I was just, like, I don't want this to happen. I need some sleep, and I need to be fine,” she said.
Gauff owns a 3-2 lifetime record against Sabalenka, but the Belarusian dominated their only encounter in 2023, at Indian Wells.
“She improved a lot. So it's a different player,” Sabalenka said. “Going into this final, I think I just have to focus on myself and prepare myself for another fight. No matter what, just keep fighting and keep playing my best and do my best.”