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Sabalenka had three double faults in the first game at Arthur
Ashe Stadium but still managed to hold serve, then came back in
the second game to break a listless Krejcikova, who had just
five winners in the first set and struggled badly with her
serve.
Krejcikova, who captured her maiden major at Roland Garros this
year, saw her serve broken at the start of the second set and
while she got a bit of her spark back as the match went on it
was too little, too late.
Belarusian Sabalenka, who reached the semi-final at Wimbledon,
won eight of the first 10 points in the second set and did not
face a single break point after fending off five of the six she
faced in the first set.
She closed out the match after one hour and 26 minutes with an
ace and beamed at the cheering New York crowd.
"I’m really enjoying my game here and every second on this
court," said Sabalenka
Playing in the U.S. Open main draw for the first time after five
failed attempts to qualify, Krejcikova said her "tank is empty"
after arriving in New York on the heels of a jam-packed
schedule.
"At some point for sure I've got to stop, I've got to rest. It's
really hard to say right now because there are just still so
many tournaments coming up. I have to find a good schedule," she
said.
"Right now I didn't know that the situation is going to be like
this, that I'm going to be sitting here, be a top-10 player,
have a chance to be in one of the main rooms."
Dissatisfied with elements of her performance, Sabalenka, who
won the Madrid Open in May, hit the practice courts after her
match before facing the media.
"I needed extra balls kind of a little bit to move, a little bit
to feel my legs, to feel the move, to feel the court," she said.
"Also my serve was really, I wouldn't say terrible, but was
really bad today. I was trying to find the rhythm."
In the semi-final she will face 19-year-old crowd favourite
Leylah Fernandez, who has defeated former champions Naomi Osaka
and Angelique Kerber, as well as world number five Elina
Svitolina, to reach the last four.
"It's nothing to lose for her. She's fighting for every point.
The crowd are there and they are supporting her really loud,"
said Sabalenka.
"I was practicing today, and we didn't really need to watch the
score because we heard ... the crowd really yelling."
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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