Aryna Sabalenka beats Emma Navarro and returns to the US Open final

NEW YORK – When things suddenly got very close in the second set of Aryna Sabalenka's US Open semifinal and the spectators in Arthur Ashe Stadium suddenly cheered loudly for her American opponent, the 2023 runner-up had to think back to a year ago at the same place.

“I thought to myself, 'OK, Aryna, you have to stay focused. Stay in your thoughts. Focus on yourself,'” Sabalenka said. “And yes, I thought a lot.”

No. 2 seed Sabalenka made a strong start and a late surge to advance to her second consecutive Flushing Meadows final, winning the final seven points to defeat Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday night, playing her usual brand of high-risk but high-reward tennis.

Sabalenka, a 26-year-old Belarusian who has won the last two Australian Opens, narrowly missed out on the title in New York last year when she lost to Coco Gauff in front of a rowdy, partisan crowd.

This time, Sabalenka beat another American opponent, 13th-seeded Navarro, and never let the fans play too big a role until things got tense in the final stretch. It wasn't long before thousands of ticket holders were cheering Sabalenka on for her latest hard-court feat.

“Well, guys, now you're cheering me on,” Sabalenka said with a laugh during her on-court interview after the game was over. “Well, it's a little late.”

Knowing she would face a player from the United States in the semifinals, Sabalenka joked after her final match that she would try to win the player over to her side by buying alcohol, saying, “The drinks are on me tonight?”

Navarro held her own in the second set despite being behind for a long time and, as the noise around her grew louder, she managed to break when Sabalenka served to win at 5-4.

“I wasn’t ready to finish the game,” Navarro said.

But in the ensuing tiebreak, Sabalenka took the lead after Navarro had led 2-0 and secured every remaining point.

“At the end of the second set, I really pushed myself,” Navarro said, “and I felt like I could definitely make it to the third set. But I didn't.”

Sabalenka will play another American, No. 6 Jessica Pegula, or unseeded Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic for the trophy on Saturday. The semifinal between Pegula and Muchova began later Thursday under the Ashe floodlights on a cool evening with only a light breeze.

“I'm ready to face anyone,” Sabalenka said. “I learned my lesson from last year. I really hope I can do a little better than last year.”

Sabalenka is aiming to become the fifth woman to win the Australian Open and the US Open in the same year since 1988, when the Australian Open became a hard-court event.

Navarro, who beat Gauff in the fourth round, is a 23-year-old who was born in New York, grew up in South Carolina and won an NCAA singles title for the University of Virginia in 2021. This was her debut in a Grand Slam semifinal, and although she showed the skill and consistency that got her there, Navarro could not keep up with Sabalenka, who was playing in this round of a major for the ninth time.

By the end of the match, Sabalenka had produced 34 winners and 34 unforced errors – punctuating most of her groundstrokes with a shout – and in fitting symmetry, Navarro had 13 winners and 13 unforced errors.

Sabalenka has shown that she is not simply a power player who swings from a standing position, even though that is the foundation of her game.

She delivered a perfectly timed return winner that helped her break early for a 4-2 lead. Later in the set, she offered two incredibly fine drop shots to win points. When Navarro failed to get a return in play after a 100-mile serve, Sabalenka was halfway to victory.

With a break to 3:2, Sabalenka seemed to have the upper hand in the second set, but Navarro held on. In the end, it wasn't enough.

Sabalenka has now won 35 of the 38 sets she has played at majors this season (92.1%). Among women who have played more than 30 sets at majors in a year, the last to win 90% of her sets at majors was Justine Henin in 2007.

For Sabalenka, it is her fourth consecutive appearance in the final of a major hard court tournament. Since the beginning of 2000, Sabalenka's Belarusian compatriot Victoria Azarenka is the only other player to have reached the final of four consecutive hard court tournaments.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.