“The drinks are on me,” says Aryna Sabalenka, who is in the semifinals of the US Open for the fourth time in a row

CNN
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Aryna Sabalenka is back in the semifinals of the US Open for the fourth time in a row after comfortably defeating China’s Zheng Qinwen 6-1, 6-2 in the quarterfinals at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Sabalenka, the favorite to win the title in New York, has reached the semifinals of seven of the last eight majors she has competed in. This is her tenth consecutive match win.

But don’t expect the New York crowd to be on the world number 12’s side in her next match. In Thursday’s semifinal, Sabalenka will face American and 13th seed Emma Navarro, who beat 26th seed Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday to reach her first major semifinal.

What it feels like when the New York crowd passionately cheers for an American – and not her – in a high-stakes game is something the Belarusian experienced just a year ago in Arthur Ashe Stadium when she lost in the final to Coco Gauff.

ESPN’s Pam Shriver asked Sabalenka a question on the court: “What are you going to do tonight to try to get some more people on your side before the semifinals?”

“I mean, the drinks are on me tonight?” Sabalenka said, laughing. The crowd cheered in agreement.

“OK guys, drink to me and please support me in the next game,” said Sabalenka.

Sabalenka and Navarro have played 1-1 in their head-to-head matches – Navarro defeated Sabalenka in Indian Wells in March and Sabalenka defeated Navarro at the French Open in June. Both matches took place in the round of 16.

Sabalenka showed her strength against No. 7 seed Zheng on Tuesday and remained in full control throughout the match, winning in one hour and 13 minutes in front of a crowd that included Roger Federer. Sabalenka improves her record in all matches against the Chinese star to 3-0.

Sabalenka will be aiming to win Grand Slam hard court events in 2024 after winning the Australian Open for the second year in a row in January, defeating Zheng in straight sets.

This is the second year in a row that Sabalenka and Zheng – the women’s singles gold medalist at the Paris Olympics – have met in the quarterfinals of the US Open.

Zheng achieved the latest result in U.S. Open history in a women’s match with her three-set win over Paris silver medalist Donna Vekic at 2:15 a.m. ET on Monday.

Zheng told reporters she estimated she fell asleep around 5 a.m. and did not train on Monday.

“I felt terrible yesterday,” Zheng said. “I couldn’t wake up. I want to play tennis, but I don’t think I’m capable of it. … I mean, yes, if I had hit a few balls yesterday, it might have helped the match, but it’s OK.”