WATCH: Aryna Sabalenka loses her cool during US Open SF against Madison Keys, slams racquet before attempting to fling it up to her coach
Aryna Sabalenka's frustrations boiled over during her semifinal clash against Madison Keys at the 2023 US Open on Thursday (September 7) as she slammed her racquet after suffering a break of serve in the second set.
Sabalenka made an uncharacteristically poor start to her clash against Keys. The second seed struggled on serve during the first set, allowing the American to break three times and claim the set 6-0. The Belarusian recorded 11 unforced errors to Keys' four in the opener.
After being broken early in the second set, Aryna Sabalenka lost her cool and angrily slammed her racquet on the towel box. She appeared visibly vexed while voicing her frustrations to her team. After collecting a different racquet from her coach, she attempted to toss her other racquet back up to her players' box but was unable to make the distance.
Subsequently, the Belarusian picked up a code violation after receiving a warning for unsportsmanlike conduct from the chair umpire.
Despite her outburst, Aryna Sabalenka quicky regained her composure to break back and level scores at 2-2 in the second set. However, Keys capitalized on another break point and subsequently held her serve to take a 4-2 lead.
Although the American served for the match at 5-3, she was unable to seal victory as Sabalenka won four points in a row to level the scores at 5-5. Subsequently, Keys fended off two set points to force a tiebreaker, but was unable to clinch the win once more, as the second seed displayed a high level of play to claim the second set 7-6(1).
After a closely contested third set, the Belarusian secured a 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(10) comeback win to advance to her maiden US Open final.
Aryna Sabalenka will take on Coco Gauff in the title clash on Saturday. Gauff defeated Karolina Muchova 6-4, 7-5 to become the youngest American woman to reach the final of the New York Major since Serena Williams in 1999.
Aryna Sabalenka set to claim World No. 1 ranking after US Open 2023
Aryna Sabalenka is set to become the new World No. 1 after the 2023 US Open. Sabalenka will end Iga Swiatek’s World No. 1 reign, which lasted an impressive 75 consecutive weeks, after the Pole was defeated by Jelena Ostapenko in the fourth round at the New York Major.
Following her fourth-round win over Daria Kasatkina, the Belarusian emphasized the significance of the achievement, highlighting the hard work she put in to reach the goal.
"It means a lot to me. All this year I’ve been pushing myself so hard to reach this goal, to become World No. 1. It really means a lot for me, a lot for my family and… It’s just, it’s just unbelievable. It’s something crazy. I still can’t believe it," she said in her post-match interview.
Aryna Sabalenka has enjoyed remarkable Grand Slam success during the 2023 season. By reaching the US Open semifinals, she became the first woman to reach the semifinals of all four Majors in one season since Serena Williams in 2016.