Aryna Sabalenka moved into her second consecutive U.S. Open final by taking the last seven points and beating Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6 (2) on Thursday night with her usual brand of high-risk, high-reward tennis. The No. 2-seeded Sabalenka, a 26-year-old from Belarus who won each of the past two Australian Opens, came up a victory short of claiming the championship at Flushing Meadows a year ago, when she lost to Coco Gauff in front of a loud partisan crowd at Arthur Ashe Stadium. This time, Sabalenka got past another American opponent, the 13th-seeded Navarro — and never let the spectators play too much of a role until things got quite tight in the second set.
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