Fired-up Belarusian cites Wimbledon ban as fuel for US Open run

Aryna Sabalenka has a chip on her shoulder at Flushing Meadows

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus disposed of Karolina Pliskova in two sets on Wednesday night and then revealed that the Wimbledon ban on Russians and Belarusians has provided her with fuel to reach the US Open semifinals for the second year running.

Though tennis stars from Russia and Belarus are allowed to perform under neutral status on the ATP and WTA tours, the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) decided to ban them from Wimbledon in the summer as a response to the military operation in Ukraine.

The ATP and WTA then stripped Wimbledon of its ranking points in response to the "discriminatory" ban, which is said to have influenced the AELTC's Stateside counterpart, the United States Tennis Association (USTA), not to follow suit in New York.

That means the likes of Russia's Karen Khachanov and Belarusian Sabalenka have been allowed to reach the last four in the men's and women's singles at Flushing Meadows – and Sabalenka revealed how the treatment from Wimbledon organizers has inspired her to go even further than her semifinal loss to eventual runner-up Leylah Fernandez last year.

Furthermore, Sabalenka felt put out that Wimbledon deprived her of the chance to improve on her semifinal run there in summer last year, where Pliskova beat her and then lost in the final to Ashleigh Barty.

Aryna Sabalenka serves her way into the US Open semifinals!