Aryna Sabalenka stayed on course for her second Grand Slam title of the season after cruising past China’s Zheng Qinwen in straight sets to reach the US Open semi-finals on Wednesday.
Australian Open champion Sabalenka – who will take over as world number one next week – booked her place in the last four with a 6-1, 6-4 victory in 1hr 13min.
The Belarusian second seed will face either Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic or Madison Keys of the United States in the last four.
“I think I definitely played great tennis today,” Sabalenka said, before praising her opponent.
“I’m super happy with the win against her, she played incredible tennis at the US Open this year.”
Sabalenka was assured of replacing Iga Swiatek at the top of the women’s rankings after the Polish No.1 crashed out of the US Open on Sunday.
However Sabalenka said she is not thinking about her new-found status as the world’s top player just yet.
“Of course I’m happy ... it’s incredible for me and my family.
“But I have some things still to do in New York this year and I’ll think about becoming No.1 after the US Open.”
Rising Chinese star Zheng had been dreaming of pulling off another upset after reaching her first Grand Slam quarter-final by downing last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur in the fourth round.
But the 20-year-old 23rd seed never looked like toppling the hard-hitting Sabalenka, who threatened to run away with the match after a blistering start in which she broke Zheng twice for a 3-0 lead, conceding just two points.
Zheng was broken again to go 4-0 down and although she finally held in the sixth game to make it 5-1, Sabalenka served out easily to take the first set in just 27 minutes.
Sabalenka’s dominance was reflected in her serve, where she won 23 of 26 points on her first serve, and 13 of 19 on her second. Zheng was unable to open up a single break point opportunity across the match.
Zheng fared slightly better in the second set, but after Sabalenka broke in the seventh game for a 4-3 lead, the result was never in doubt, and she wrapped up victory on serve in the 10th game.

Shelton hopes to play disruptor against Djokovic
Ben Shelton’s reward for his battling quarter-final victory at the US Open is a match against 23-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic, and as daunting as the task may be the young American is confident he can play the role of disruptor.
Shelton, the son of former professional Bryan Shelton, is blessed with a big serve and booming forehand but he showed he had plenty of resolve too, beating compatriot Frances Tiafoe 6-2 3-6 7-6(7) 6-2 at a muggy Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The 20-year-old will need all of his weapons on Friday if he is to stand a chance in his first meeting with Djokovic.
“I think that it’s an advantage with my game style, playing someone who’s never played me before,” Shelton told reporters. “I think that I can bring some things to the table that maybe you don’t see in your normal match that you play on the ATP Tour.
“So I’m definitely going to try to bring some things to the table that are different and hopefully disruptive on Friday.”
But playing second seed Djokovic is never a normal match. The Serb, who is looking to match Margaret Court’s all-time record of 24 major singles titles with a fourth Flushing Meadows crown, will be competing in a record 47th Grand Slam semi-final. Shelton will be playing in his first.
“I think whenever you play somebody for the first time and someone who has been in this situation so many times and come out victorious so many times, that’s in the back of your head,” Shelton said.
“You just know how rock solid the guy is and how mentally tough, how physically tough. So that’s definitely something that I have to game-plan for.”