New York: Aryna Sabalenka cruised into her fourth consecutive US Open semi-final while Americans Taylor Fritz and Emma Navarro delighted the home crowd by making the final four for the first time at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Second seed Sabalenka needed only an hour and 13 minutes to dismantle China's Zheng Qinwen 6-1 6-2, fending off the only break point she faced in the match to set up a meeting with Navarro.
The Belarusian has lost only four service games through the tournament and is determined to add another major title to her two Australian Open trophies after losing in the Flushing Meadows final a year ago.
"No matter what's going to happen on the court, I'm going to fight for it," she said. "The only thing you can control is yourself and you just literally have to fight for it."
In the day session's opening match, 13th seed Navarro continued her meteoric rise to the top tier of tennis with a 6-2 7-5 win over Spain's Paula Badosa in a battle of New York-born baseliners.
One of two U.S. women left in the tournament, Navarro snatched an early break to go 3-0 up in the first set, then turned aside two break points to take it in convincing fashion. Navarro, who beat defending champion Coco Gauff in the previous round, stunned a suddenly error-prone Badosa by winning 24 of the last 28 points of the match to wrap up victory in 72 minutes.
"I think things weren't looking great there in the second set, but just tried to be really tough, stick in there," Navarro said.
"I felt like if I could scrap out a few longer points, maybe put some pressure on her, you know, I felt like I could come back and maybe close it out in two sets. Happy with how I was able to do that."
Fritz, the men's 12th seed, denied world number four Alexander Zverev another shot at a first major with a 7-6(2) 3-6 6-4 7-6(3) triumph just two months after dispatching the German in the fourth round at Wimbledon.
"I've had a lot of looks at quarter-finals over the past couple of years and today just felt different," Fritz said. "I really felt like it was my time to take it a step further.
"It's only fitting I'm doing it here on this court at the Open in front of this crowd," he added over the roaring home fans.
Fritz claimed a tight first set in a tiebreak after the two towering players wowed fans with a mixture of powerful baseline blasts and drop shots and winners at the net.
Zverev bounced back to level the match in the second, energised by one of the shots of the tournament, a curling return from out wide that sailed over the net post and landed on both lines. But world number 12 Fritz seized back momentum in the third set and closed out the match in a fourth-set tiebreak.