By Amy Tennery
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Second seed Aryna Sabalenka charged into her second straight U.S. Open final on Thursday, overcoming a late-match fight back from American Emma Navarro 6-3 7-6(2) at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The runner-up last year relied on her superior power to subdue the 13th seeded Navarro, sending over 34 winners, and she closed it out with a satisfying overhead smash on match point.
Navarro took out the defending champion Coco Gauff in the fourth round but was outmatched against the major veteran Sabalenka, even with a passionate home crowd urging her on.
Sabalenka, who jokingly offered the crowd a free round of drinks if they supported her over the home hope, teased the fans after the win: “Now you’re cheering for me – wow – it’s a bit late.”
“Even though you guys were supporting her I had the goosebumps,” she said. “She’s such a great player, really tough opponent.”
Sabalenka will play the winner of a match between Jessica Pegula and Karolina Muchova in the championship match.
Navarro beat her on the hard court in three sets at Indian Wells this year and the pair looked to be in store for another big battle as they traded breaks early in the first set.
But the Belarusian calmed her nerves and wrested the momentum in the sixth game, getting the critical break with a forehand winner before extinguishing Navarro’s break point chance in the seventh with an unreturnable serve.
Navarro bloodied her knee midway through the second set chasing a shot and Sabalenka looked ready to cruise to victory when the American helped her to a break with a backhand error in the fifth game.
But Navarro refused to go down without a fight, applying pressure from the baseline to break back in the 10th game.
Sabalenka gave a sarcastic thumbs up to her coach’s box after allowing Navarro to go up 2-0 with a double fault in the tiebreak. But she got down to business from there, winning an 18-shot rally at the net en route to the win.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam and Stephen Coates)
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