(New York) Banned from playing at Wimbledon by political reprisals linked to the war in Ukraine, Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka approached the United States Open full of desire and energy, reaching the semi-finals on Wednesday where she awaits the world No.1 Iga Swiatek.
The Polish must play her quarter at the start of the night session against the American Jessica Pegula (8e).
The 10e day of the New York Major must also determine the semi-final at the bottom of the men’s table: the Russian Andrey Rublev (11e) faces the American Frances Tiafoe (26e), winner of Rafael Nadal in the quarters, and the clash “ next-gen between Jannik Sinner (13e) and Carlos Alcaraz (4e) will take place at the end of the evening.
Sabalenka, 6e world, dominated the Czech Karolina Pliskova (22e) 6-1, 7-6 (7/4), and found the last square of Flushing Meadows like last year.
But this year, she is driven by frustration at not having been able to play at Wimbledon where she was stopped in the semi-finals last year by the same Pliskova.
“In our last two games, maybe I didn’t respect her enough, I thought I was on top. But today, I expected a long and difficult encounter. She actually played very well, but I managed to keep my game at a high level,” commented the Belarusian.
Since her semi-final in New York last year, she had not chained five consecutive victories. So Sabalenka took advantage of the free time imposed during the fortnight of the Major on grass to prepare in Miami for the North American tour on hard court.
“Another preseason”
“It’s like I had another pre-season: I worked very hard, especially on my serve. But it wasn’t fun, especially when I was training in the gym with Wimbledon on TV,” she admitted on Wednesday.
However, this situation gave her an extra motivation: “They stopped me from playing at Wimbledon, so I worked really, really hard for the United States Open,” she insisted.
Only the London Major has refused Russian and Belarusian players, unlike all the other tournaments which have decided to welcome them, but removing any mention of their nationality.
“It’s hard and it’s a lot of pressure. Me, I’m just an athlete and I have nothing to do with politics. I just try to play my best and do what I can to make sure the spectators have fun watching my matches,” she said.
Sabalenka had to save two match points against Estonian Kaia Kanepi in the 2e lap, before being further pushed into the third set in 8e by the American Danielle Collins. She therefore continues on her way with more authority and solidity and says she is “ready for another fight”.
At the bottom of the women’s table, the other semi-final will oppose Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia (17e), the most impressive player since the start of the tournament, but who has never played a half in a Grand Slam, to the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (5e), finalist of the last Wimbledon.
