By Richard Pagliaro | Wednesday, September 6, 2023
Aryna Sabalenka swept Zheng Qinwen, 6-1, 6-4, storming into her fifth straight Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.
Photo credit: Brad Penner/USTA/US Open
NEW YORK—It’s lonely at the top.
New world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka delivered desolation on a toasty Arthur Ashe Stadium Court today.
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Isolating Zheng Qinwen in the corners, Sabalenka hit the world No. 23 right off the court 6-1, 6-4 storming into her fifth straight Grand Slam semifinal at the US Open.
A dominant Sabalenka improved to 12-0 in hard-court majors this season and joined exclusive company with esteemed champions.
“I'm super happy with the level I played today. Super happy with this win," Sabalenka said. "I saw her previous matches. She played unbelievable tennis, and I'm super happy that I was able to bring my level on court and finish this match in two sets."
The second-seeded Sabalenka is now 7-0 in major quarterfinals joining 18-time Grand Slam champion Chrissie Evert, who won her first 48 straight major quarterfinals, in winning her first seven major quarterfinals.
Sabalenka is the first woman to reach semifinals or better in all four Grand Slams in the same season since one of her tennis heroes, Serena Williams, in 2016.
The Australian Open champion overwhelmed the major quarterfinal débutante on both serve and return today. Sabalenka not only beat Zheng down, she beat the heat on a sweltering day spending just 73 minutes on court.
Afterward, Sabalenka credited her training in South Florida preparing her for the New York City swelter—and her aggressive mind-set certainly helped.
"It was hot, but yeah, because I did my preparation in Florida. I mean, what can be worse than Florida?: Sabalenka said. "I mean, in July and June, you know. Not like overall.
"So yeah, I think that's really help me today to, yeah, to stay strong and to, like, don't really get tired because of the heat."
Scorching first serves, Sabalenka won 23 of 26 first-serve points and used the slider serve effectively, especially on the deuce side. When Zheng dropped way back behind the baseline in an effort to handle the Belarusian’s pace, Sabalenka shrewdly twisted slice serves shorter in the box.
The second seed did not face a break point raising her 2023 record to 49-10, including a 29-5 hard-court record.
This 73-minute conquest propels Sabalenka into her third straight semifinal in Flushing Meadows.
Now, Sabalenka awaits the winner of tonight’s final quarterfinal between Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova, who withdrew from doubles nursing a sore serving shoulder and 17th-seeded American Madison Keys.
Sabalenka, who is 42-7 over her last nine Grand Slam tournaments, has beaten Keys in two of three meetings, including a 6-2, 6-4 sweep in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in July. Sabalenka is 4-2 lifetime vs. Vondrousova, including winning their last three hard-court encounters at 2023 Adelaide, 2022 Australian Open and 2021 Miami Open.
Today, Sabalenka was oppressive from the start.
A jittery Zheng dribbled a backhand off the tape to drop serve in her opening service games.
A sharp Sabalenka slammed successive love holds bursting out of the blocks to a 3-0 start.
The sheer force of the Belarusian’s ballistic drives pushed Zheng backward. At times, the world No. 23 looked like a woman being spit out of a revolving door.
Charging forward, Sabalenka snapped a smash that bounded off the back wall breaking again for a 4-0 lead after just 15 minutes of play.
Shots were flowing like all the right answers on a quiz as Sabalenka spun a 106 mph ace out wide snatching a 5-0 lead. Sabalenka soared through 20 of the first 24 points as an overwhelmed Zheng could not gain traction in rallies against the more explosive Australian Open champion.
A surprise serve-and-volley, executed with calm precision, brought Sabalenka to double set point. Sabalenka served out the set at 15.
The first serve often set up the last word: Sabalenka won 16 of 18 first-serve points in the first set.
All this from a woman who led the WTA in double faults last season. Sabalenka worked with a biomechanics coach to streamline her serve motion and has rebuilt her serve into one of the best on Tour.
Clarity when stepping up to serve has given Sabalenka the freedom to attack her first serve without worrying about the repercussions of maybe missing.
“I would say that before I was kind of worried playing points on my serve and now I’m just standing there thinking okay I’m ready to play points, I’m ready to do whatever I need to do to win this game,” Sabalenka said. “If not then no it’s okay so I’m trying to calm myself down during those games.
“I'm really going to do everything I can to stay until the end.”
Resetting in the second set, Zheng zapped her first ace of the day to help her hold for a 2-1 lead.
The second set shifted in the seventh game.
Turning her hips and shoulders into a ferocious forehand return, Sabalenka rattled out an error for break point.
Two primary differences in this match: Sabalenka’s jolting serve created more first-strike chances and her damaging drives produced a pace Zheng couldn’t consistently handle.
"First of all, I think Sabalenka, she got a really strong serve, Zheng said. "Also, she make me feel that it's tough to return. I think she's one of the fastest serve in the tour. I think the next time if I have to play against her that I have to deal with especially the return how to handle it, her service game.
"Yes, and if you just talk about result, of course it's not bad for me, but honestly, in my mind I really wants to go to farther. But honestly, there is still a lot of room for me to improve, especially she make me think a lot, once again, that I have to go back and put some work on in my tennis."
Provoking another error, Sabalenka screamed “come on!” breaking for a 4-3 second-set lead.
Sabalenka, who slammed 17 winners against 12 errors, said she’s pleased with her first match as world No. 1—she holds the top spot in the live rankings and will officially assume WTA No. 1 on Monday, September 11th—but won’t celebrate life on the top until after the tournament.
“Of course I’m happy, as I said it’s really important for me and my family, but I have some things to do in New York this year so I’m trying to focus on my game,” Sabalenka said. “I’ll think about becoming No. 1 after the US Open.”