Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth consecutive US Open semifinal on Tuesday, while Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe face off in a home-court clash that promises to be thrilling and a treat for Arthur Ashe fans in the men’s semifinals.
Second seed Sabalenka took just one hour and 13 minutes to defeat Chinese Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen 6-1 6-2 to set up a meeting with American Emma Navarro, before jokingly promising fans free drinks to support the match.
The Belarusian dropped just four service games during the tournament and became the overwhelming favorite to add another Grand Slam title to her two Australian Open trophies after losing the Flushing Meadows final to Coco Gauff a year ago.
“If you finish in the top five, everyone will consider you a favorite,” Sabalenka said.
“But, as I always say, it’s not about being the favorite, it’s about how much you’re willing to fight for it. It’s going to be the difficult moments in the matches, when you don’t feel well and you have to go through it.”
“But I’m very happy that they consider me one of the favorites and I will do my best to keep this beautiful trophy.”
Fritz, the men’s 12th seed, denied world number four Alexander Zverev another chance to win his first Grand Slam title with a 7-6(2), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(3), two months after eliminating the German in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
“I’ve had a lot of quarterfinal chances the last couple of years and today was different,” Fritz said. “I really felt like it was time to step up.”
Tiafoe, meanwhile, reached the semi-finals in 2022 and once again secured a top-four spot at the tournament after Grigor Dimitrov retired with a leg injury when trailing 6-3, 6-7(5), 6-3 and 4-1. .
“This is not how I wanted to get through. But I’m happy I did it. Another semifinal here. Unbelievable,” said the 20th seed.
Both Tiafoe and Fritz are looking to end North American fans’ 21-year wait for a local men’s Grand Slam champion, following Andy Roddick’s triumph in New York in 2003.
It will be the first all-American men’s Grand Slam semifinal since Andre Agassi beat Robby Ginepri at the 2005 US Open.
Source: Terra
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