WHAT HAPPENED: There were no letdowns for Aryna Sabalenka on Monday night at the US Open. One night after she was guaranteed to overtake the No. 1 ranking next Monday from Iga Swiatek after the Pole’s fourth-round loss to Jelena Ostapenko, the No. 2 seed took to Arthur Ashe Stadium and delivered a dominant 6-1, 6-3 fourth-round win over No. 13 seed Daria Kasatkina.
"I had no doubt that Iga was going to make it to the final. I was sad that she lost, but becoming No. 1 means a lot to me," said Sabalenka in her on-court interview. "I've been pushing myself a lot this year to make this goal and I still can't believe it... but I didn't want to be distracted for tonight."
Kasatkina’s tricky game of off-pace groundstrokes and relentless defense can frustrate anyone in the women’s game, particularly if they’re not playing their best tennis. But when a power player like Sabalenka is firing on all cylinders, Kasatkina lacks the weapons to impose herself in rallies.
That struggle was particularly notable on Kasatkina’s serve, which rarely broke 100 MPH and saw plenty of second serves spun in at under 80 MPH. Sabalenka stood well inside the baseline for most of her returns, eager to pounce with the first strike and immediately dictate the tempo of play.
Sabalenka broke Kasatkina in seven of her eight service games and remained relentless on her own serve, winning 70% of her first-serve points (16/23). Her game wasn’t just sheer power, though. The No. 2 seed conjured up plenty of short-angled winners as she took advantage of Kasatkina being pushed as far as 10 feet behind the baseline in some rallies.
A backhand error from Kasatkina wrapped up the match after one hour and 15 minutes. Sabalenka finished the night with 31 winners to 23 errors. She improved to 5-2 in her head-to-head with Kasatkina.
WHAT IT MEANS: Sabalenka is through to the quarterfinals in New York for the third consecutive year. She’ll next face No. 23 seed Qinwen Zheng, who upset No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur earlier in the day to reach her maiden Grand Slam quarterfinal.
"We've practiced together a couple of times," said Sabalenka. "She's serving well, hitting super heavy. It's going to be a tough match and I'm really looking forward to it."
Sabalenka holds an impressive 6-0 record in Grand Slam quarterfinals. Although her semifinal record in majors is less desirable (1-5), she secured her first Grand Slam title earlier this year at the Australian Open (d. Rybakina).
MATCH POINT; Sabalenka’s US Open run this fortnight might be featured in an upcoming episode of the Netflix series “Break Point”, which goes behind the scenes on tour with some of the world’s best players. She’s featured in the series along with other Top 10 stars including Frances Tiafoe, Taylor Fritz and Maria Sakkari.
