U.S. Open: Aryna Sabalenka powers past Zheng Qinwen to reach ...

NEW YORK — If there were any doubts that Aryna Sabalenka is the U.S. Open favourite, she brushed them aside with a crushing 6-1, 6-2 quarterfinal win over the Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen on Tuesday night.

In a repeat of their Australian Open final eight months ago, Sabalenka gave a performance of authority. It suggested that she is in a better position than ever to win her first major away from Melbourne, and sends a message to the rest of the quarterfinalists, including world No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who plays Jessica Pegula Wednesday.

Though Zheng won fewer games in this match than the five she won in Melbourne, both players said afterwards that it was more even than the scoreline suggested. The difference-maker was the serve, a weapon for both players but particularly crucial for Zheng, who escaped a tight match against Donna Vekic in the previous round by landing her first serve time and again. Tuesday night, she got 31 per cent of first serves in play in the first set, struggling with her ball toss.

“The serve was not what I expect,” Zheng said after the match.

Overall she put 44 per cent of her first serves in, and won 72 per cent of those points, compared to tournament averages of 53 per cent and 79 per cent. Sabalenka by contrast got 71 per cent of her first serves in and wasn’t broken all night.

Zheng Qinwen’s serve has been crucial to her tournament, but it faltered against Aryna Sabalenka. (Charly Triballeau / AFP via Getty Images)

In rallies, it felt as though Sabalenka was almost affronted by her opponent’s attempts to outgun her. This was a heavyweight matchup, between Sabalenka’s flatter, harder power and Zheng’s heavy, thumping topspin, but every time Zheng tried to punch holes in Sabalenka’s defences, the Belarusian responded with interest.

You hit hard, I’ll hit harder.

Sabalenka also possessed the better touch and feel on the night, demonstrated by a dreadful attempt at a drop shot by Zheng at 1-4 in the first set. It bounced before it hit the net, giving up the double break. In mitigation, Zheng spoke afterwards about how her preparations for the match had been severely compromised by finishing her previous match against Donna Vekic at 2:15 a.m. on Monday morning. She said she didn’t get to sleep until around 5 a.m., and that she felt so “terrible” when she woke up, that she was unable to practise during the day.

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Hardly the ideal tuneup for facing the tournament favourite, and having faded towards the end of the opening set, Zheng needed to reassert herself at the start of the second. Instead, she was knocked down in the first game by a couple of Sabalenka haymakers. A forehand return winner flew past her for 0-30, and a few points later she was down a set and a break. It was soon a double break for 4-1, helped by a backhand return winner that was hit almost with disdain by Sabalenka.

Ultimately, Zheng couldn’t live with her opponent’s greater weight of shot, just as it had been in Australia. She coughed up 24 errors compared to Sabalenka’s 12, and hit eight winners to 14. But unlike in Australia, Zheng can point to her first serve breaking down as a key factor in the result, rather than simply being overawed, with no hope of stemming the tide. “I do feel it was better than the last two times (we played each other),” Zheng said.

Sabalenka is in a resurgent mood after a difficult period. In the run-up to the U.S. Open, she admitted that she should have taken some time off in the spring after the death of her ex-boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov.

Prior to that admission, she had pulled out of Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, also missing the Olympics. She has clearly taken the opportunity to reset during the enforced break, and after winning the Cincinnati Open on the eve of this tournament, she is now on a 10-match winning streak, dropping just one set in 21 played.

This was another statement performance from last year’s finalist that will have the locker room talking, with Sabalenka looking every inch the tournament favourite. A label she is wearing lightly. “I’m really glad they take me as a favourite,” Sabalenka said after the match.

“And I’ll do my very best to hold this beautiful trophy.”

Next up is a semifinal against home favourite Emma Navarro on Thursday.

(Top photo : Robert Prange / Getty Images)