World No. 2 shares plan to lure fans ahead of Emma Navarro clash

How do you win over a group full of Americans? You buy them a round of drinks, of course.

World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka resorted to the old trick Tuesday following her 6-1, 6-2 win over Qinwen Zheng in the 2024 U.S. Open quarterfinal. With the victory, the Belarusian set up a semifinal clash against U.S. star Emma Navarro, who won her quarterfinal match against Paula Badosa earlier in the day.

Sabalenka will be walking into hostile territory Friday as she tries to take down Navarro, exactly a year after she ran into Coco Gauff, another American, in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium. She lost.

When asked how she plans to get people on her side ahead of Friday's game, Sabalenka paused for a second before uttering the words, "Drinks on me tonight?" while shrugging her shoulders.

"For everybody?" asked the interviewer.

"Okay, guys. Drinks on me, and please give me some support in the next match [ laughs ]," she responded.

Sabalenka's tactics, albeit in the name of fun, are unlikely to work on the strong partisan crowd on Friday. You'd better believe Navarro, 23, will be cheered loudly as she tries to make her first-ever major final.

While Sabalenka walks into the match against Navarro as the favorite, the latter has been the breakout star of the 2024 U.S. Open, notching impressive wins over Gauff and Marta Kostyuk in earlier rounds. Furthermore, she got the better of Sabalenka when they last met at Indian Wells , but lost to the higher-ranked Belarusian in the fourth round at Roland Garros earlier this year.

"She is a really good player. We had two battles, they were really close," Sabalenka said of Navarro in her post-match interview. "I've watched her matches and she's playing incredible tennis. It's going to be a great battle and I'm really looking forward to facing her again."

The 26-year-old Sabalenka is vying for her second major of the year, and third career slam, following her back-to-back wins at the Australian Open in 2023 and 2024. The big-serving Belarusian has reached at least the semis for four consecutive years at Flushing Meadows, only to fall short of the ultimate prize.