Number 2 Aryna Sabalenka dropped just three games against her opponent Qinwen Zheng on Tuesday evening to reach the semifinals of the US Open for the second time in a row.
The quarterfinal between Sabalenka and No. 7 Zheng – a rematch of the Australian Open final in January – was the first meeting of players from the women’s top 10 at this year’s US Open.
The 6-1, 6-2 victory secured Sabalenka a meeting with American Emma Navarro on Thursday.
Sabalenka improved to 9-1 in major quarterfinals, the second-best win rate among women since the Open Era began in 1968 (minimum 10 matches). With her nine major semifinal appearances since the start of 2021, she leads all players during that period.
The three games won by Zheng, the Olympic singles champion, were her fewest in a Grand Slam match, hitting just 44% of her first serves.
Sabalenka, who emerged victorious in Melbourne and was runner-up at Flushing Meadows last year, is trying to become the fifth woman to win the Australian Open and the US Open in the same year since 1988, when the Australian Open became a hard-court event.
She would join Steffi Graf (1988, 1989), Monica Seles (1991, 1992), Martina Hingis (1997) and Angelique Kerber (2016).
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
