Aryna Sabalenka sealed a 6-3 7(7)-6 win against Emma Navarro in their US Open 2024 women's singles semi-final clash, at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday. It was an easy affair for Sabalenka as she won the first set with ease, but Navarro tried to use the home crowd's support in the second set, but a tie breaker settled proceedings.
The spotlight was also on some of the big names present in the venue to watch the match, and one of the main focus was on Russian tennis legend Maria Sharapova. The US Open's social media handle also shared a short video of Sharapova making an awkward expression, which left her in splits.
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Retweeting the video on X, formerly known as Twitter, Sharapova joked, “I look like I just missed a second serve return on break point and saw my coach’s reaction.”
Sabalenka was in entertainment mode and bagged 34 winners in her semi-final match. "Even though you guys were supporting her I had the goosebumps. She's such a great player, really tough opponent," said Sabalenka.
{{/usCountry}}Sabalenka was in entertainment mode and bagged 34 winners in her semi-final match. "Even though you guys were supporting her I had the goosebumps. She's such a great player, really tough opponent," said Sabalenka.
{{/usCountry}}"I'm really happy to see that in those key moments I'm able to stay focused and just try to do my best and focusing on my tennis, on things which I have to do to win this match, not like on outside. "Even if things are not working well for me, I still keep doing right things and I'm staying in control," she further added.
Sabalenka will face Jessica Pegula in the final, who defeated Karolina Muchova in the semi-finals. Ahead of Sabalenka's semi-final, it looked like she would have a tough task in hand, as Navarro had defeated her on hard court in three sets at Indian Wells this year. But Sabalenka was in cruise control mode in the first set itself.
Navarro hurt her knee in the second set while chasing a shot and it put Sabalenka in more control. Navarro also helped Sabalenka to a break with a backhand error in the fifth game.