Aryna Sabalenka celebrated her ascent to the pinnacle of women’s tennis by powering into the quarter-finals of the US Open on Monday with a straight-sets win over Russian Daria Kasatkina.
Sabalenka, who is guaranteed to become the new world number one next week following Iga Swiatek’s fourth-round exit on Sunday, cruised into the last eight with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over the 13th seed.
The Belarusian will play China’s Zheng Qinwen on Wednesday for a place in the last four.
Sabalenka, who lost in the semi-finals of last year’s US Open, is targeting her second Grand Slam title of the season after winning the Australian Open in January.
The 25-year-old from Minsk said after her win she was delighted to have secured the No.1 ranking — but admitted she would have preferred to have beaten Swiatek in the final in New York.
“Honestly I had no doubt she was going to make it to the final — I really wanted to have this battle with her and decide everything on court,” Sabalenka said of outgoing No.1 Swiatek.
“I was sad she lost, but it means a lot to me. I’ve been pushing myself all this year to reach this goal. It’s unbelievable, it’s something crazy, I still can’t believe it.”
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