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Aryna Sabalenka joked about a new way to try to sway a crowd to cheer for her during a U.S. Open match: Bribe them with booze.
A year ago, Sabalenka lost to American Coco Gauff in the final at Flushing Meadows as a partisan crowd loudly backed the champion. Now Sabalenka will face another American, Emma Navarro, in the U.S. Open semifinals on Friday.
So after her victory in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, Sabalenka was asked by on-court interview Pam Shriver what she might do “to try and get a few more people on your side?” Sabalenka chuckled and told the folks in Arthur Ashe Stadium: “Drinks on me tonight?” Then, repeating that offer to the thousands of spectators, Sabalenka added: “Please give me some support in the next match.”
Emma Navarro's first Grand Slam semifinal will come at the U.S. Open against Aryna Sabalenka, someone trying to win her second major trophy of the year and third overall.
Navarro's first Grand Slam semifinal will be against Sabalenka
Navarro, an American who is seeded 13th, used a stunning turnaround to grab the last six games of her quarterfinal against Paula Badosa for a 6-2, 7-5 victory at Flushing Meadows on Tuesday, following up her upset of defending champion Coco Gauff.
“Sometimes you're out in the court, and you can kind of picture yourself playing a third set. When I was out there, I didn't picture myself playing a third set,” despite being down 5-1 in the second, Navarro said. “I felt like ... I could come back and do it in two.” Sure did.
There was no such drama in No. 2 Sabalenka's 6-1, 6-2 win against No. 7 Zheng Qinwen, the gold medalist at the Paris Olympics last month, in a rematch of Sabalenka's victory in the Australian Open final.
With Roger Federer in the stands, attending the U.S. Open for the first time since his retirement, Sabalenka displayed a typically powerful performance to get into the semifinals in New York for the fourth year in a row. In 2023, she was the runner-up to Gauff.
Sabalenka said she saw Federer in the crowd and figured he was there to watch Frances Tiafoe and Grigor Dimitrov in the match that followed hers.
“But still, I was like, OK, I have to play my best tennis so he enjoys it. I have to show my skills, you know, slice skills, come to the net and all that stuff,” Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who's known more for her power, said with a laugh.
