Confident Aryna Sabalenka does not care who she faces in final with “lesson from last year learned”
Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka defeated American Emma Navarro in the semifinals to make it to her second consecutive US Open final.
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Aryna Sabalenka at the 2024 US Open (Image via US Open)
Belarusian tennis ace Aryna Sabalenka reached her second consecutive US Open final following her semifinal win against Emma Navarro on Thursday (September 5). The Belarusian is riding high on confidence and stated that she does not care about who she faces in the final.
With the 6-3, 7-6(2) win against Navarro, Sabalenka became the first woman to reach back-to-back finals at Flushing Meadows since Serena Williams in 2018 and 2019. She has now reached all four hard court Grand Slam finals during the last two seasons.
In her on-court interview after getting past Navvaro, the World No. 2 stated that she learned a lesson last year and it does not matter who she faces in the final.
No. I don’t really care. Because today was a good test of the crowd cheering for my opponent. Even if it’s going to be Pegula, I don’t care. I’m ready to face whoever. Lesson from last year learned.Aryna Sabalenka said
Sabalenka lost to home favorite Coco Gauff last year. The Belarusian was affected by the partisan crowd cheering for her opponent. She showed that she learned her lessons as she took just 90 minutes to beat American Navarro, who was contesting her first Grand Slam semifinal.
Aryna Sabalenka admits getting distracted by the crowd cheering for Emma Navarro
Despite cheekily bribing fans with free drinks, Aryna Sabalenka could not get strong support from the crowd when she faced Emma Navarro in the semifinal. The Belarusian admitted that she had to repeatedly remind her to focus on the game as cheers got louder for her opponent.
I was like, ‘OK, Aryna, you have to stay focused. Stay in your thoughts. Focus on yourself. And, yeah, I was thinking a lot.
Aryna Sabalenka said in her on-court interview
When things got quite tight in the second set and the Arthur Ashe Stadium crowd got quite loud while supporting her American opponent, Sabalenka found herself recalling her clash with Gauff at the same venue last year. However, she quickly recollected herself and stayed focused on the match.
While Navarro took the lead in the tiebreak, Sabalenka came storming back and won the seven points on the trot to close the match. Either Karolina Muchova or Jessica Pegula now stands between her and a maiden US Open title.
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Ritesh Pathak
(2150 Articles Published)