Aryna Sabalenka vs Emma Navarro - US Open Tennis Prediction and Pick 9/5/24

Aryna Sabalenka reached her fourth straight semifinal at the US Open thanks to her most dominant performance at the tournament. She knocked out China's Olympic gold medalist, Qinwen Zheng, in straight sets in a match that took 15 games to decide.

In the victory, Sabalenka hammered three aces to three double faults and landed 71% of her first serves. She won 73% of first-serve points (30/41) and 53% of second-serve points (9/17) and converted four of eight break points. Sabalenka finished the match with 16 winners to 19 unforced errors, with opponent Zheng managing nine winners to 20 unforced errors.

Emma Navarro, for her part, reached her first Grand Slam semifinal at the 2024 US Open. Having never won a main draw match at her home city before this past week, Navarro has been riding on her wave of momentum and breakthrough year on the WTA Tour to exceed expectations.

To get here, she beat an in-form Marta Kostyuk and the defending champion Coco Gauff. In the quarterfinal, Navarro knocked out Sabalenka's good friend Paula Badosa in straight sets, rallying from a 1-5 deficit in the second set to close out a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

Aryna Sabalenka vs Emma Navarro Head-To-Head

• Sabalenka and Navarro have split their two meetings on Tour this year. The American won their first clash in Indian Wells in three sets (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) before Sabalenka exacted revenge at the French Open (6-2, 6-3). 

Aryna Sabalenka vs Emma Navarro Prediction

I've followed Emma Navarro very closely this year, and she's been a breath of fresh air with her ice-cold demeanor and attacking brand of tennis. She can defend, had great footwork and can improvise when she needs to. She's only 23 but has bags of talent and ability, and the general consensus is that this semifinal run is only the start of excellent things to come. However, she's still very raw at this level of the competition, and Sabalenka, who remains a firm favorite even as the top seeds crumble, continues to dominate with her serve and scary power off the ground. Navarro will keep things watertight for a while but back the Belarusian to hit through in the end.