Aryna Sabalenka reached her second successive semifinal at Flushing Meadows with a confident 6-1 7-6(4) victory over 2016 US Open finalist Karolina Pliskova.
The first set was absolute dominance of Sabalenka. The sixth seed raced to a 4-0 lead in and broke Pliskova’s serve one more time with a forehand winner on her third set point.
Just as it seemed that this Grand Slam quarterfinal against the former world No.1 would be an easy practice session for Sabalenka, Pliskova increased her consistency and, without service breaks, the second set progressed into a tiebreak.
It was not easy for the 22nd-seeded Pliskova to completely recover after sleeping through the beginning of the match. Sabalenka stayed in full control and comfortably won the tiebreak with her 30th winner.
Sabalenka’s semifinal opponent will be the winner of the last quarterfinal at the 2022 US Open, either Iga Swiatek or Jessica Pegula.
