India, Sept. 3 -- Defending champion Aryna Sabalenka has advanced to the semi-finals of the 2025 US Open without hitting a ball, after her quarter-final opponent, Marketa Vondrousova, was forced to withdraw due to a knee injury. The walkover makes Sabalenka the first woman in over two decades to reach a Grand Slam semi-final in this manner - the last being Fabiola Zuluaga at the 2004 Australian Open.

With Tuesday's development, Sabalenka joined an exclusive club of women to have received a walkover into a Slam semi-final. Only Arantxa Sanchez Vicario (1992 Australian Open) and Fabiola Zuluaga (2004 Australian Open) had previously achieved the same feat in the Open Era.

Vondrousova, the reigning Wimbledon champion, had looked in ominous ...