Aryna Sabalenka proved that she has cleared any mental hurdle at the Grand Slams by recording a second straight major semifinal appearance at the US Open.
Sabalenka stormed into the final four with a businesslike 6-1 6-4 defeat of reigning Roland Garros champion Barbora Krejcikova on Tuesday night.
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The No.2 seed next faces teenaged breakthrough star Leylah Fernandez of Canada for a shot at the biggest final of her career.
“Second semifinal, and hopefully I can keep it up,” Sabalenka said of her Grand Slam success.
“That's amazing. I'm really proud of myself and I'm really proud of my team that they are always working, always trying to find things where I can improve. This is what I am mostly proud of.
“I'm here in the semifinal and I have another chance to show my best and to show my level on the court.”
The world No.2, despite her obvious talent and weapons, was unable to clear the fourth round in her first 14 Grand Slam main draw appearances.
She finally advanced to a maiden quarterfinal at Wimbledon earlier this year, saying at the time she was “really happy I finally broke this wall” after seeing off Elena Rybakina in three tense sets.
She opened up even more at Wimbledon after beating Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals, admitting: “After every Slam I was so disappointed about myself that I can't handle this pressure. I actually thought that I will never make it to the second week.”
But her run at the All England Club, which eventually ended in a high-quality three-set semifinal loss to Karolina Pliskova, seems to have released a pressure valve.
The Belarusian has comparatively cruised at Flushing Meadows; after dropping the second set of her opening match to Nina Stojanovic, she has won nine consecutive sets to reach the semis.
Nobody has been able to take more than four games off her in that nine-set span.
“I'm not really thinking about the draw, like how far can I go. I just start enjoying every match,” Sabalenka said of her change in mentality following that Wimbledon breakthrough.
“It sounds simple, but with all the things going around, it's not easy to focus on each match, to enjoy it, to enjoy every fight, every challenge.
“This is everything I changed, I would say. My focus is like step by step. It's working well.”
Sabalenka is notable for her on-court intensity and ballistic shot-making power, but that seems to have been tempered as she has gradually introduced more stability to her game.
Many commentators have observed she is playing with more margin and patience as she progresses through the draw in New York.
Sabalenka herself believed she struggled with her serve and movement throughout her quarterfinal win over Krejcikova. And yet she still only dropped five games.
Seven double faults were balanced out by six aces – the last on match point as she closed out the contest with a resounding, confident hold to love.
“When something is not working well, what I actually improved in, I'm trying to find something else to win the game. This is also a huge improve I did,” she explained.
“During the match I'm not really focusing on the problem. I'm focusing on what should I do to win this match. I'm not really panicking or, like, stressing about it. I'm just, trying to stay smart and professional.
“I think this is what help me today to win this match.”
Sabalenka draws level with Krejcikova on 43 match wins in 2021 – the most of all players on the WTA tour.
She has a chance to go clear on 44, and arrive in a fourth final of the season, when she takes on Fernandez on Thursday.