Aryna Sabalenka Reaches 2nd Consecutive US Open Final with Victory over Emma Navarro
World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka defeated emerging talent Emma Navarro in a close match to set up Thursday night’s semifinal match, earning a berth in the US Open final for the second consecutive year.
In her second consecutive US Open final, world No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Emma Navarro, 6-3, 7-6 (2), on Arthur Ashe Stadium, capping off a spectacular summer.
After losing to Coco Gauff in the title match, the two-time Australian Open champion had to settle for the runner-up trophy in 2023. However, in 2024, Sabalenka hopes to complete a career sweeping of hard-court majors, overcoming a late charge from a motivated Navarro in one hour and thirty minutes.
In 2024, Sabalenka and Navarro squared up for a third time; Navarro prevailed in their first encounter at the BNP Paribas Open, but Sabalenka exacted revenge at Roland Garros two months later. Navarro is having one of her best seasons to date. She has advanced through the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the fourth round of Paris, building on her increasingly excellent Grand Slam performances, before saving her best for her home Slam.
After spending two weeks in Flushing Meadows, Navarro was very certain to make her Top 10 debut. She defeated Gauff for the second time in a row and breezed past Paula Badosa, the former world No. 2, to get to the semifinals where she faced Sabalenka.
With a winning run of ten matches, Sabalenka advanced to her third consecutive semifinal at the Open. She won back-to-back matches over Jessica Pegula and Iga Swiatek to win the Cincinnati Open, bringing a lot of momentum with her to Queens. She lost three games in just 73 minutes on Tuesday against Zheng Qinwen, the current Olympic champion, despite having only dropped one set in five matches.
As Thursday’s night session got off, the 26-year-old looked headed for an equally decisive triumph, jumping out to an early 2-0 lead while Navarro was having trouble getting her bearings. With a skillfully placed forehand return, Navarro established her rhythm and tied the set at two games apiece. Sabalenka, who was about to lose three games in a row, collected herself enough to secure another break point and finish the opening set in less than forty minutes.
As the second set began, Sabalenka and Navarro exchanged service holds. However, in the fifth game, Sabalenka produced a strong comeback, broke and held to position herself two games from victory. As the match approached the hour mark, Navarro almost gave up after falling behind 15-40 on the serve in the seventh game. But after saving two break points, she took off, electrifying the Ashe crowd and breaking Sabalenka to win three games in a row after she had been on the verge of loss.
In the Sudden Death, Sabalenka overcame an early mini-break deficit to force a tiebreaker and overcome an inspired opponent. She won 5-2 after the first change of ends with a smart volley and powerful serve. With a deft change-up, she pulled Navarro into the net with a drop shot and finished the pass to reach four match points.
She quickly crossed the finish line in ninety minutes by crashing the net and putting away Navarro’s short reply on her second serve.
The winner of the second semifinal between No. 6 seed Jessica Pegula and 2023 semifinalist Karolina Muchova will stand between Sabalenka and her maiden US Open title—and third major overall. The last time Sabalenka and Pegula played was three weeks ago in Cincinnati, where Muchova defeated the former No. 1 to record her greatest career victory in the 2023 Roland Garros semifinals.
Aryna Sabalenka Overcomes US Open Crowd, Reaches Second Consecutive Final
The world No. 2 recovered from last year’s final, when raucous Arthur Ashe Stadium atmosphere had destroyed her, to defeat Emma Navarro in the semifinals on Thursday.
Emma Navarro was winning more games than anyone else in her second set, and that raised the noise level on Arthur Ashe Stadium. In the US Open semifinal match against Aryna Sabalenka, Navarro had previously overcome a 3-5 deficit; one more game would require a third set.
The former world number one was unable to settle her nerves until she served down 5–6.
“I was like, ‘No, no, no, Aryna, it’s not going to happen again,'” she remarked during the news conference held after the match. “You need to master emotional self-control. You must put yourself first.
Almost exactly a year ago, Sabalenka lost her composure on this court when, trailing Coco Gauff in the 2023 finals, she let the audience influence her mental state and give in to Gauff’s pressure. As a result, Sabalenka lost three sets to none, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Playing at the Open is challenging because of the stadium’s potential for loudness, according to Sabalenka.
They were really noisy last year, even throughout the point. Because it was so loud, it was obstructing my ears, which put a lot of strain on me. My emphasis on myself may have been the mistake, but I failed to consider the fact that she was also on the same court, experiencing the same level of crowd noise, and we were all in the same circumstances.
Yes, they are supporting her, but what can they do to assist her win the match? Only if I allow them to enter my thoughts and only if I’m going to completely lose myself and go insane.
Novak Djokovic is well known for pretending that a biased audience is rooting for him, but when the match looked like it would get tough, Sabalenka decided to play more realistically.
“I had people who were rooting for me,” she told herself. “I tried to concentrate on them. I’m thinking, Come on, you have so much support from so many people. Your team is inside the box. Your family is there. Try to just battle for it, without trying; just concentrate on yourself.
And thus the battle started. In her third consecutive semifinal match at Ashe, the Cincinnati Open champion, on the rise, settled superbly to force a tiebreaker. Overcame a brief deficit to earn the last seven points and get to the second consecutive final after winning eleven games in a row.
“Now you’re cheering for me?” she asked at the start of her on-court interview, taunting the supporters she had attempted to placate with promises of cocktails “on her” following the quarterfinals.
The two-time Australian Open champion, who aims to win her maiden major in Flushing Meadows, has an unwavering passion for the final major of the season, even if she keeps drawing audience favorites and might potentially meet Jessica Pegula, another American, in the final.
“It’s great to be in New York,” she remarked. “I love playing in this gorgeous stadium in front of the fans; I love the courts and the crowd.” I like the city and my time spent on the court.
“Every time I return here, I get this optimistic feeling like, ‘Come on, maybe this time.'” I always want to grasp that gorgeous prize in my hands one day.
Even painful defeats never make me feel down, as in, I never consider quitting the competition. All it does is encourage me to return, give it another go, try harder, and perhaps put more effort into some areas that may not have worked in the past.
She smiled and said, “I’m still hoping to hold that beautiful trophy.”
