US Open: Aryna Sabalenka becomes 5th woman to achieve amazing feat that eluded Serena Williams
Aryna Sabalenka overcame Emma Navarro in straight sets in the semi-finals at the 2024 US Open to reach her second consecutive final at Flushing Meadows.
The world No 2 prevailed 6-3, 7-6(2) against the 23-year-old American after an hour and 33 minutes on Arthur Ashe Stadium.
After the pair exchanged breaks in the second and third games of the match, Sabalenka earned the decisive breakthrough of the first set to go up 4-2.
The Belarusian broke Navarro to take a 3-2 lead in the second set, but the world No 12 struck back when the second seed served for the match at 5-4, before forcing a tiebreak.
Sabalenka fell 0-2 behind in the tiebreak, but she won the next seven points to close out the match in style and book her place in her second US Open title match.
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The 26-year-old has now reached four successive hard-court Grand Slam finals, having won the last two editions of the Australian Open and been a runner-up at the 2023 US Open.
This makes Sabalenka just the fifth woman to make the finals at both the Australian Open and the US Open in back-to-back seasons since the Melbourne event switched from grass to hard courts in 1988.
Steffi Graf, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis and Victoria Azarenka are the other four players to accomplish this in women’s singles. Graf and Hingis both achieved the feat in three consecutive years.
Woman to reach the Australian Open and US Open finals in consecutive years
Steffi Graf – 1988-1990, 1993-1994
Monica Seles – 1991-1992
Martina Hingis – 1997-1999
Victoria Azarenka – 2012-2013
Aryna Sabalenka – 2023-2024
By making her fourth major final on hard courts, Sabalenka is now joint-second among active female players for the most Grand Slam finals reached on the surface with Naomi Osaka.
Azarenka, Sabalenka’s fellow Belarusian, is the only current WTA player who has reached more — with five.
Sabalenka is also the first woman to reach back-to-back US Open finals since Serena Williams in 2018 and 2019.
The world No 2 is seeking her third Grand Slam title to add to her triumphs at the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024. All four of her career appearances in major championship matches have come on hard courts since the start of last year.
Sabalenka will face America’s Jessica Pegula in the US Open final in a rematch of last month’s Cincinnati title match, which she won 6-3, 7-5.
