Aryna Sabalenka targets US Open title after Coco Gauff knocked out in fourth round

Last year’s runner-up reached the last eight with victory over Elise Mertens.

Aryna Sabalenka cruised through to the quarter-final of the US Open Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP) (AP)

Last year’s US Open runner-up Aryna Sabalenka is in prime condition to go one better this year after booking her place in the quarter-finals.

Two hours after defending champion Coco Gauff crashed out in the fourth round, the Belarussian beat Elise Mertens to make the last eight.

Not many players left in the draw can cope with Sabalenka’s power on the hard courts and she is the clear favourite to win a third grand slam.

“I really enjoy playing here,” she said.

“The crowd are amazing. I really enjoy playing on these big stadium and feel all the support.

“I just don’t want to leave early here. I just want to stay as long as I can and enjoy this beautiful court.

“I think that’s why I’m consistently here.”

On Louis Armstrong Stadium, a back-in-form Paula Badosa beat China’s Yafan Wang to book herself a second grand slam quarter-final appearance,

The Spanish star revealed she had contemplated retiring earlier this year after a back injury saw her miss out on competing in the second half of 2023.

The hiatus saw the New York-born player drop from a ranking of number two in the world to outside the top 50.

She found it hard on her return to the sport and, amid a run of poor results earlier this summer, considered a life away from the sport.

She said: “There were some moments I was thinking about it, like in the clay court season when I was losing very soon in the tournaments, and I’m like, ‘Wow, what can I do now?’.

“For me, tennis doesn’t make sense if I’m not on the top. I want to play big stages. I want to play the last rounds of every tournament. I want to be one of the best players in the world.

“But at the end, I always had this small part of me I had faith on myself, I had this belief that I could come back.”

She will meet American Emma Navarro, who ended Gauff’s title defence.