Sabalenka eases past Zheng to reach US Open semi-finals

NEW YORK: Second seed Aryna Sabalenka crushed Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-4 on Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday to reach her fifth straight Grand Slam semi-final and end the 23rd seed’s charmed run at the U.S. Open.

Sabalenka, who will move top of the world rankings next week, pummelled her Chinese opponent with 17 winners and never faced a break point.

Zheng had never made it to a major quarter-final and endured a miserable time against the Australian Open winner, as she was unable to get much power off her serve and the Belarusian forced her into 23 errors.

Sabalenka will play the winner of a match between American Madison Keys and Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

“I’m super happy with the win against her… super happy with the performance,” said Sabalenka, who lost in the semi-finals in her previous two US Open appearances. I’m going to do everything I can to stay until the end.”

On Tuesday, Novak Djokovic charged into a record 47th Grand Slam semi-final with a straight-sets win over Taylor Fritz.

Djokovic shrugged off ninth seed Fritz 6-1, 6-4, 6-4 to extend his dominance of American players in New York and take another step closer to a record-extending 24th men’s Grand Slam title.

The 36-year-old Serbian star will appear in his 13th US Open semi-final, eclipsing the mark he shared with longtime nemesis Roger Federer for most appearances in the last four of a Grand Slam.

Djokovic awaits the up-and-coming Ben Shelton, who took down 10th seed and 2022 semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe in an all-American affair in Tuesday’s night session at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“I’ve been playing on this court for many years, so many epic matches and I cannot wait for another one in a few days’ time,” said Djokovic, a three-time US Open champion.

Djokovic defeated Fritz for the eighth time in a row, weathering stifling conditions as the temperature topped 90 degrees Fahrenheit (32 Celsius) and humidity rose above 55%.

“It was very humid conditions. Difficult to play but that is why we train and try to get ourselves in the best conditions to deliver. Not easy but you have to fight,” said Djokovic.

The unseeded Shelton unleashed 50 winners, using his booming service and blistering forehand to devastating effect to beat Tiafoe 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7), 6-2.

Shelton, who reached the quarter-finals on his Australian Open debut in January, is through to the last four of a major for the first time.

He becomes the youngest American men’s semi-finalist in New York since 1992.

“It doesn’t get much better than that,” world number 47 Shelton said of a first-time meeting with Djokovic scheduled for Friday. “I feel like I left it all out here tonight. It was an emotional battle.”

The fickle New York crowd has never really fully embraced Djokovic and the Serb is likely to find himself increasingly unpopular this week.

Not since Andy Roddick in 2003 has an American man won the US Open and Djokovic could single-handedly dash home hopes of ending that drought.

Having eliminated Fritz he now finds Shelton standing between him and a 10th trip to the final.

“It’s normal, it’s logical to expect that most of the crowd would support the home player,” said Djokovic.

“That’s probably going to be the case on Friday, but I’ll be ready for it. I’m trying to enjoy the moments on the court, but there is so much stress and pressure going on that it’s hard to have fun on the court.

“It’s really about finding a way to navigate through the match and win a tennis match for me.”

Women’s French Open runner-up Karolina Muchova reached her second Grand Slam semi-final of the season with a 6-0, 6-3 demolition of veteran Romanian 30th seed Sorana Cirstea to set up a clash against home hope Coco Gauff.

The semi-final will be an intriguing match-up between two of tennis’s hottest and most creative players.

Since her opening round loss at Wimbledon Gauff has won 17 of her last 18 matches, including titles in Washington and Cincinnati.

Muchova has also been in superb hardcourt form, getting to the round of 16 at the Canadian Open and falling to Iga Swiatek, before losing in the final of the Cincinnati Open to Gauff.