By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – In-form Aryna Sabalenka swatted aside Czech Karolina Pliskova 6-1 7-6(4) to reach her second straight U.S. Open semi-final on Wednesday.
The Belarusian underestimated her opponent in their previous two meetings last year, when Pliskova defeated her in the Wimbledon and Montreal semi-finals, but was in dominant form in New York as she fired down seven aces and never faced a break and .
“Today I expected a great level,” Sabalenka said in an on-court interview. “I just tried to stay in this match as long as I can.”
Nothing went right for 2016 finalist Pliskova during the first set as she racked up 15 unforced errors and five double faults in 28 minutes.
But the Czech’s form improved considerably in the second set as she fended off the only break point she faced in the eighth game.
Sabalenka kept her cool in the tiebreak and raised her arms in triumph after sealing victory with a forehand winner on her second match point.
“Right now I’m not going for aces I’m just trying to put my serve on the big targets,” she said.
“I’m ready for another fight and I think I just have to stay focused on myself.”
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
