US Open 2024: Aryna Sabalenka to face Jessica Pegula in women’s singles final

Poland’s Swiatek is the player at the top of the world rankings, but arguably Sabalenka is the best hard-court player in the world.

Always a powerful player, Sabalenka struggled for years with her serve, ultimately deciding to work with a biomechanics expert to cut down the number of double faults.

That helped her win two Australian Open titles, but this year has seen her move up a gear mentally, able to block out the crowd noise and shrug off errors and momentum swings better than usual.

Her easy power was on show against Navarro – she hit 34 winners to the American’s 13 – but she also made the same amount of unforced errors.

Navarro, who took out Gauff in the fourth round, is a crafty, intelligent player, who gradually adjusted to absorb Sabalenka’s heavy blows.

The two traded early breaks a pounding Sabalenka forehand gave her a 4-2 lead and, after seeing off a break back point, she served out the first set.

She was merciless on Navarro’s second serve, again going an early break up, but as the finish line came into sight, Sabalenka’s nerves showed and she was broken when serving for a place in the final.

However, her quality showed in the tie-break, with the second seed reeling off seven points in a row to see off Navarro.

Afterwards, Sabalenka said she thought back to last year’s final, where she was visibly distracted by the noisy support for Gauff.

“I had really tough lessons here in the past. I wasn’t ready, then I got emotional, then I just couldn’t handle the crowd,” Sabalenka said.

“I’m still hoping to hold that beautiful trophy.”