Aryna Sabalenka had just lost the first set 6-0 to Madison Keys in her US Open semifinal match on Thursday night, and she looked startled and sad as she walked to her chair. Sweat poured over her brow.
This was not how the soon-to-be world No. 1 player was intended to seem.
And that was a long cry from how she had performed throughout the competition. Prior to her encounter with Keys, the 25-year-old and reigning Australian Open winner had not lost a set or more than five games in a match.
Sabalenka, who has a tiger tattoo on her left arm, was missing her distinctive roar on Thursday. During the disappointing first 30 minutes of play, she seemed listless and distracted. On a night full of surprises at Arthur Ashe Stadium, it was probably the most unexpected sight of them.
“I was all over the place,” Sabalenka subsequently said. ‘What can I do?’ was all I could think. She’s playing really well, smashing everything. I can’t do anything since I had no influence on the match.
“I just kept telling myself, ‘OK, there’s going to be days like this [where] somebody’s going to play their best tennis.’” All you have to do is keep trying, remaining put, and pushing. Maybe you’ll be able to turn this game around.’”
Sabalenka was broken in the third game of the second set, leaving her down 5-3. With just one game left, Sabalenka lifted her game and pounced on Keys’ mistakes and any hint of anxiety. She tied the game and eventually forced a tiebreak.
She prevailed in the tiebreak.
She subsequently won the match with another tiebreak in the final set. Even though she felt she had won the match at 7-3 and was about to rejoice, she found a way only a few minutes later. Sabalenka won after two hours and 32 minutes with the perplexing score of 0-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5). She knelt before rising to her knees, gripping her head in her palm. After getting bageled in the first set, she became just the third woman in Open Era history to win a Grand Slam semifinal match.
“Somehow, I don’t know how, I turned around the match,” she said on court, unable to put into words what she had just done.
Sabalenka was on the losing end of a dramatic semifinal defeat at the 2022 US Open, having taken the first set before succumbing to eventual winner Iga Swiatek. But a year later, she’s a different player, and it shows.
Sabalenka has had a tremendous stretch since her departure in New York in September. She began 2023 with a title in Adelaide and then won her first big championship in Melbourne. She has now won the 1000-level championship in Madrid, as well as reaching the finals at Indian Wells and Stuttgart, making her the first player since Serena Williams in 2016 to reach the semifinals in all four majors in the same season. She had spent virtually the whole year ranked second, and she had been outspoken about her childhood desire of becoming world champion. She had gotten close during the previous months but had been unable to capture Swiatek.
She closed the deficit as the season progressed, and entering the US Open, she just needed to equal or outperform Swiatek’s final finish. When Swiatek was eliminated in the fourth round, Sabalenka became the No. 1 in waiting, a position that would be confirmed in the post-tournament rankings. She told the journalists the following day that she was pleased with the achievement but wasn’t thinking about it too much.
“I’m focusing on [the] US Open,” Sabalenka said. “I don’t want to celebrate anything until the US Open is over.” So I’d rather concentrate on this event than on world No. 1.”
Despite her outstanding year and impending ranking, she has remained relatively under the radar throughout her stay in New York. Her first three matches were held in Louis Armstrong Stadium rather than Ashe Stadium, and her results have been overshadowed by other players and stories. But now she’s in her second Grand Slam final, where she’ll face American 19-year-old and fan favourite Coco Gauff on Saturday under the brightest lights and on the greatest platform.
By the time Gauff arrived at her press conference after her previous match, Keys had such a large lead that not a single question regarding a possible match versus Sabalenka was addressed. But Gauff understands from prior confrontations that it would be difficult.
The two have met five matches before, with Gauff winning three of those encounters but Sabalenka won their most recent match, 6-4, 6-0, in March at Indian Wells. But now that Gauff is on a 17-1 winning run on the hardcourt this summer, with wins in Cincinnati and Washington, D.C., Sabalenka says the previous encounter meant nothing in terms of her preparation. But if Thursday taught her anything, it’s that she’ll be ready to fight to the very end.
“She [has] improved a lot [since then],” Sabalenka said. “So it’s a new player.” We don’t want to think about that game too much.
“I think I just have to focus on myself and prepare for another fight going into this final.” You just have to be there and fight for it.”
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