NEW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka has been running on rocket fuel this fortnight at the US Open. The 24-year-old — banned by Wimbledon, along with other Russian and Belarusian players, due of the unprovoked invasion of Ukraine — made her second successive semifinals at Flushing Meadows. And is smiling again.
She was away from the Tour for almost two months — June and July. When she started in San Jose in August, she took her time finding her feet despite the work she had put in on the practice courts.
