Aryna Sabalenka made her 2nd consecutive grand slam semifinal at the 2021
US Open after the 2021 Wimbledon where she also played in the semifinal.
The achievement came with a 6-1 6-4 win over Barbora Krejcikova and the Belarussian will hope to keep this momentum going. Her career has been on a steady rise over the past several years but 2021 saw her make several breakthroughs. Similar to Krejcikvoa, who won her maiden grand slam in 2021, Sabalenka is hoping to do the same here.
She said:
"Second [major] semifinal, and hopefully I can keep it up. That's amazing. I'm really proud of myself, and I'm really proud of my team that they're always working, they're always trying to find things where I can improve. This is what I am mostly proud of."
For Sabalenka it's about staying present in the moment and not thinking too much ahead:
"I'm not really thinking about the draw, like how far can I go. I just start enjoying every match. It sounds simple, but with all the things going around, it's not easy to focus on each match, to enjoy it, to enjoy every fight, every challenge. This is everything I changed, I would say. My focus is step by step. It's working well."
Next up it will be Fernandez and on that she said:
"I was following her games. She's playing well, moving well. I would say it's nothing to lose for her. She's a great player. She's fighting for every point. The crowd are there and they are supporting her really loud. I was practising today, and we didn't really need to watch the score because we heard the crowd really yelling. It will be an interesting one. Really looking forward to this match."