After quarterfinal demolition of Zheng Qinwen, is Aryna Sabalenka ready to win her first US Open title?

Zheng Qinwen began the night with a roar. As she rifled a backhand down the line for a winner, she accompanied it with a piercing grunt. It sounded as if she were sending a message to her famously noisy opponent, Aryna Sabalenka: She was here to match her shot for shot and shriek for shriek.

But if Zheng came in like a lion on Tuesday night, she would eventually go out like a lamb. Her second-point grunt may have been her fiercest, and best, moment of the night.

The Paris gold medalist was broken in her opening service game after missing virtually every first serve, and she would make just 31 percent of them through the first set. Her service woes quickly infected the rest of her game. Not only was she late on Sabalenka’s heavy ground strokes, she began to miss routine balls even when she had time to set up for them.

Zheng won just 33 percent of points on her second serve, and 33 percent of her points while returning Sabalenka’s serve. In the second set, she appeared to lash out at her coaching team as she pointed her racquet in their direction, but even venting didn’t help.

The rematch of the Australian Open final, in other words, was a dud. Zheng may have been tired from a 2:00 A.M. finish in her last match, or her busy Olympic summer—she flew to China to meet with Xi Jinping right before the Open—may finally have caught up with her.

Sabalenka won 6-1, 6-2 in 73 minutes, and, while Zheng was unusually bad, Sabalenka was as dominant as she has been since the start of Cincinnati. She’s still the No. 2 seed, but still looks like the favorite to me.