Aryna Sabalenka has ranked among the top dozen players in the world since 2018, but her grand slam results always seemed underwhelming.
In 12 career majors heading into 2021, Sabalenka had advanced past the third round only once, a fourth-round exit at the 2018 US Open.
Now she is into her second successive grand slam semi-final after defeating Barbora Krejcikova 6-1 6-4 Tuesday, and she said the adjustments she has made this year have paid off.
"I think I improved my volley game, my slice game," Sabalenka told ESPN after her latest win. "I mean, I would like to say my service game [too] but today's didn't work well."
She added with a smile: "I don't know, maybe the court's a little bit smaller, I don't know, I need to check it. But, yeah, I improved a lot."
Indeed, Sabalenka won seven of eight net points (to eight of 14 for her opponent) and consistently won points on her first serve even though it did not go in as often as she would have liked.
Sabalenka entered the match having won 82 per cent of points on her first serve in the tournament and was down to 76 per cent Tuesday as she got only 57 per cent of her first serves in the court, but that was plenty good enough to handle Krejcikova.
She said she focussed on putting as many balls back in play as she could and believed that was the key to her victory, as her opponent had 29 unforced errors and just 14 winners.
Though the match was rather one-sided, Sabalenka enjoyed the support of the crowd in her first time playing Arthur Ashe Stadium during the night session.
"I really love to be in New York and the US Open, one of my favourite slams, and I'm really enjoying my game here and every second on this court," she said.
She also knows she probably will not get the same level of fan support in the semi-final, where she will face Canadian teen sensation Leylah Fernandez.
"She's playing well, she's moving well and the crowd here [is] for her so I would say it's like nothing to lose for her," Sabalenka said. "It's going to be interesting match and I'm really looking forward to this one."
Emma Raducanu splits with coach Sebastian Sachs after less than six months
Emma Raducanu has split with her coach of less than six months Sebastian Sachs.
Raducanu only appointed the former German player in mid-December, but she has announced a parting of the ways.
“I have really enjoyed Seb’s coaching and working with him, it’s unfortunate that circumstances made it unfeasible for both of us to continue right now and we have decided to part ways. I wish Seb all the best moving forwards,” Raducanu tweeted.
The 2021 US Open champion is currently sidelined and could miss the entire grass-court season following surgery on her wrists and ankle.
Sachs was her fifth coach in two years, following Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson, Torben Beltz and Dmitry Tursunov.
The 31-year-old coached Swiss player Belinda Bencic when she won a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
His brief stint with Raducanu included the Australian Open in January, but their partnership is now over.
French Open day four: Cameron Norrie plays the role of villain again
Cameron Norrie played the villain’s role again by taking out his second French opponent, this time Lucas Pouille, to reach the third round at Roland Garros.
After his five-set victory over Benoit Paire, Norrie had a much more comfortable time in a 6-1 6-3 6-3 win over Pouille to set up a clash with young Italian Lorenzo Musetti.
Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz both made it through to the last 32 without any real alarms but Caroline Garcia, the biggest home hope, is out.
Picture of the dayTweet of the dayNick Kyrgios will wake up happy after Thanasi Kokkinakis’ five-set victory over Stan Wawrinka.
Shot of the dayUpset of the dayBarbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova have dominated women’s doubles recently and were looking to win a fifth straight grand slam title. So a first-round loss to Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Japan’s Eri Hozumi was a shock and a half.
Birthday girlFallen seedsMen: Roberto Bautista Agut (19), Sebastian Korda (24)
Women: Caroline Garcia (5), Liudmila Samsonova (15), Jelena Ostapenko (17), Zheng Qinwen (19)
Who’s up next?Defending women’s champion Iga Swiatek continues her campaign for a third title in Paris against American Claire Liu.
Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina meets teenage Czech Linda Noskova while Coco Gauff takes on Austria’s Julia Grabher.
In the men’s draw, the withdrawal of Gael Monfils means Alexander Zverev plays in the night session against Alex Molcan, with fourth seed Casper Ruud opening proceedings against Giulio Zeppieri.
Novak Djokovic driven by ‘drama’ as Kosovo message fall-out continues
Novak Djokovic admitted he is fuelled by drama as the fall-out continued from his controversial message about Kosovo.
The French sports minister weighed into the debate on Wednesday over Djokovic’s decision to write “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia” on the camera after his first-round victory at Roland Garros.
Speaking to TV station France 2, Amelie Oudea-Castera said the message amid violence in the north of the country, which is not recognised as independent by Serbia, was not appropriate and she warned Djokovic not to repeat the action.
He told Serbian media he would do it again but, after beating Hungary’s Marton Fucsovics 7-6 (2) 6-0 6-3 in the second round, he opted just for a signature and smiley face.
At his post-match press conference, Djokovic said: “I would say it again, but I don’t need to because you have my quotes if you want to reflect on that.
“Of course I’m aware that a lot of people would disagree, but it is what it is. It’s something that I stand for. So that’s all. Drama-free grand slam, I don’t think it can happen for me. I guess that drives me, as well.”
He declined to respond to Oudea-Castera’s comments and did not confirm whether tournament director Amelie Mauresmo had discussed the matter with him, saying: “I have no more comment on that. I said what I needed to say.”
He is not expected to face any sanction from the tournament because players are not prohibited from making political statements.
Things were not straightforward on the court during an 87-minute first set when, unsettled by breezy conditions and an in-form opponent, Djokovic was pushed hard.
He double-faulted serving for the set and was pushed to a tie-break but, having overcome that hurdle, the third seed was almost flawless.
A lost set, meanwhile, was not enough to take the smile off Carlos Alcaraz’s face as he defeated Taro Daniel to move through to the third round of the French Open.
Taking on the Japanese player on a windy Philippe Chatrier, world number one Alcaraz won the first set easily only for his opponent to fight back at the start of the second.
It proved only a temporary blip, though, as the young Spaniard dominated the final two sets in a 6-1 3-6 6-1 6-2 triumph.
“I’m really happy with the level that I played today,” said Alcaraz. “I overcame the problems in the match because of the wind and it has been a really complete match from my side, and I’m really happy with that.”
Alcaraz’s positive attitude and sunny disposition has made him not just popular with his rivals but also made some of them rethink their own approach, with Stefanos Tsitsipas thanking the Spaniard during a practice session.
“I’m winning all the time because I am smiling,” said Alcaraz, who next faces Denis Shapovalov. “And I always said that smiling for me is the key of everything.
“I enjoy being in this kind of stadium, these kind of tournaments, cities. That’s the most important thing for me to enjoy, and that’s why I smile all the time.”
Tsitsipas joined Alcaraz in the third round with a 6-3 7-6 (4) 6-2 victory over Roberto Carballes Baena but former champion Stan Wawrinka lost out in the match of the day, going down in five sets to Thanasi Kokkinakis.
The Australian would have felt that was justice after his epic defeat by Andy Murray at his home grand slam in January.
“It definitely feels better when you come out on the winning end of those,” said Kokkinakis.
“I had a heart-breaker against Andy earlier in the year and not many moral victories. It was a tough one to take. You can’t count these guys out no matter how old they are. They get better and better, and you can see why they are multiple grand slam champions.
“Stan is a legend. Still is, obviously, but he was a legend out on court today. He was very nice, very respectful. Hats off to him. The crowd was going nuts for him, but it’s a fun atmosphere. I love playing against that, so it was awesome.”
Meanwhile, sixth seed Holger Rune was given free passage through to the third round after Gael Monfils called a press conference late on Wednesday evening to announce he was pulling out of their clash scheduled for the night session on Thursday because of a wrist injury.
The 36-year-old played the match of the tournament so far on Tuesday night, fighting off cramp to defeat Sebastian Baez in five sets, and he said: “I’m not really sure what I feel, but it’s more than being disappointed. How many Roland Garroses will I play?”
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