Aryna Sabalenka has electrified fans with her run to a second straight US Open final this fortnight.
Clubbing her groundstrokes with more pace than any man or woman in New York, and striking the most winners of anybody in the women’s singles tournament, Sabalenka stands on the brink of a notable achievement.
She could become just the second woman this century, after Angelique Kerber in 2016, to win the Australian and US Open titles in the same year.
After Sabalenka beat Emma Navarro in a high-quality semifinal on Thursday night, Jessica Pegula will try to stop her in Saturday’s finale after the American beat Karolina Muchova in the second semifinal.
Few have enjoyed watching Sabalenka’s latest terrific Grand Slam performance than Ben Stiller.
The superstar American actor, a long-time tennis fan and US Open attendee, revealed in an interview with Stan Sport that the world No.2 was currently his favourite player to watch, along with men's semifinalist Frances Tiafoe.
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"I've got some good news for you,” interviewer Duncan McKenzie-McHarg told Sabalenka, in a conversation included on the latest episode of The AO Show Weekly podcast.
“Earlier in the week, I interviewed Ben Stiller, and I asked him: ‘Who are your favourite players to watch?’ And he said his favourite player to watch is you, because he loves your energy, and he loves your focus.”
Sabalenka revealed she’d seen the interview, and was thrilled.
"That's awesome, because I love him, I love his movies. It's always been our favourite movies with my family, so when I saw that I sent it to my Mum and I translated [for] her. She's like, 'oh my God, that's awesome'.
“So thank you so much [Ben], and I hope to see you at the next game (laughter).”
LISTEN: The latest episode of The AO Show Weekly
McKenzie-McHarg continued: "Well that's what I was going to ask – wouldn't it be cool if Ben Stiller came into your players' box and supported you?"
Sabalenka agreed. "I really would like to take picture with him," she replied.
Given she remains alive in the tournament and is into a second straight final, she might get that chance.
She has evolved into the women’s game’s best player at the Grand Slams; become the most reliable performer at the sport’s four biggest events dating back to 2021.
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Iga Swiatek might be the world No.1 and have won more majors than Sabalenka, but she has not attained the same consistently-high level across all Grand Slam surfaces and venues.
Sabalenka has reached the semifinal stage in seven of her past eight Slam appearances, numbers not seen since Serena Williams almost a decade ago.
She has not exited a Grand Slam event before the quarterfinals in more than two years.
Since the Australian Open switched to hard courts in 1988, Sabalenka is just the sixth woman to reach four consecutive hard-court Slam finals. The others? Illustrious names Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Victoria Azarenka.
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Azarenka is the only active player to reach more hard-court major finals than Sabalenka, who is currently the two-time defending AO champion.
Earlier in the tournament, it was also revealed Sabalenka’s average forehand speed was the fastest of any player, even eclipsing the world’s top three men: Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
Such explosive power and intensity is no doubt another reason she is Stiller’s favourite.
"I'm just trying to be in the zone and just trying to focus on myself and bring my best tennis, make sure people experience this feelings of me hitting the ball so hard,” said Sabalenka, the recent Cincinnati champion who has built at 11-match winning streak.
“Honestly sometimes I don't feel that I'm hitting like that heavy shots, and then I see stats and I'm like, oh my God, that's really heavy.
"I'm really happy that people [are] enjoying me play. I mean, I hope they do!"
