NEW YORK – Aryna Sabalenka is back in the final of the US Open.

In a devastating display of power, finesse and ultimately determination, No. 2 seed Sabalenka defeated No. 13 seed Emma Navarro 6-3, 7-6(2) to reach her second consecutive final in New York.

It helped that she had played this game before.

She stood under the floodlights of Arthur Ashe Stadium in front of nearly 24,000 fans, and the stadium was ready to explode as an up-and-coming American got behind her. Last year, Coco Gauff and that crowd ruined her night in the final when Gauff snatched the lead and then the title from her grasp.

Sabalenka would not allow that to happen this time, no matter how much the fans at the Billie Jean King Tennis Center wanted New York native Navarro to pull off another stadium-shattering surprise.

Sabalenka is a different person and player than she was a year ago, and that became clear midway through the first set. At first, it looked routine. She had built an early lead with a brutal hitting performance, only to allow Navarro to equalize.

Sabalenka then regained control, but Navarro did not let up. She chased balls and forced the Belarusian to make additional shots, faster and with less of a lead than before.

This strategy upset Sabalenka a year ago because she had only one answer: hit the ball as hard as she could and when that didn’t work, try to hit it even harder. That was what Navarro and everyone else expected from her, given the No. 13’s technique and deceptively aggressive defense.

Instead, Sabalenka unpacked the new tools from her toolbox.

While Navarro hung back behind the baseline waiting for the fastball, Sabalenka hit an angled backhand to the sideline, so high up the court that even Navarro, with her remarkable foot speed, couldn’t cover it. Two points later, Navarro was deep again. Sabalenka swung for another shot or another angle, because Navarro no longer knew what was coming. She had to guess. Sabalenka pulled the string on a stop ball, and the ball dropped perfectly over the net.

For years, the way to beat Sabalenka was to absorb her power and then remember that each of those 80-mile-per-hour forehands was worth just one point. When she hit enough of them, especially in an important match, they flew wide or shot into the middle of the net. When those shots were in motion, with major trophies and places in Grand Slam finals at stake, they too often turned into mistakes and kept her from being where she wanted to be.

Before, you could just wait for her to make a double fault, and then three, and then ten more. She doesn’t do that anymore. She doesn’t let go of her groundstrokes either.

Sabalenka spent last December trying to find so many other ways to win, and now, when she’s healthy, she almost always succeeds. There she is at the net, finishing points with volleys to the front half of the court or slicing a drop shot. There she is hitting a backhand that lifts off the ground instead of sliding through it, setting up the finishing shot from closer, safer ground. The power, the greatest in the game, becomes even stronger.

For anyone on the other side of the net, it’s all a little scary. Not that anyone would notice that looking at Navarro, who may have the best poker face in the sport right now. In an era of punches and “come on!!!”s, she plays with a calm composure that goes hand in hand with a normally dangerous consistency and the ability to go on the attack with a flick of her elbow.

Her opponents have not known what to do with this composure for two years. Is she really that cool and relaxed?

After the loss, Navarro said the stadium felt different than in her previous two matches, even during the upset win over Gauff in the first round. The lights, the night, the knowledge of what was at stake. It didn’t feel like another day at the office.

When she stepped onto the court, she was lacking a little of the fluidity and consistency that had characterized her run through the tournament. Her first serve lacked its usual sharpness and precision, her footwork was a little heavier than in her previous matches.

“I didn’t get to grips with it 100 percent the way I wanted, but it’s a feeling I’ll definitely look for again,” she said.

She still has a lot of work to do to get there, as she showed when she was down 5-3 in the second set. She was not ready to walk away; she wanted to stay and keep playing, even with Sabalenka’s serve closed the match. She hit a blistering forehand down the line to earn two break points and then the blocked backhand return that Sabalenka couldn’t hit back.

After keeping the hall quiet for almost the entire night, Sabalenka finally played against 24,001 opponents.

The myth about the best players, what supposedly sets them apart from everyone else, is that in such moments they can concentrate completely on the ball. The mind becomes quiet and focuses only on the next shot.

It’s a nice concept, but don’t trust it, especially after hearing Sabalenka’s description of her thoughts at that moment.

It was a journey back in time twelve months ago: Again, she lost the lead in the second set, and the noise of the crowd increased with every mistake, every forehand that sailed out of bounds and every passing shot that narrowly missed her racket.

That was the case against Gauff, an agonizingly slow tennis death that ended with Sabalenka smashing a racket in the weight room. There were two ways to deal with such an experience. She could feel sorry for herself, or she could do everything in her power to prevent it from happening again.

She chose door number 2. She knew she had what it took to make it across the finish line.

She let all these memories run through her mind, as she often does. She has no shortage of bad memories from this tournament – not only the loss to Gauff, but also a semi-final defeat to Leylah Fernandez, then number 72 in the world, three years ago. That evening, too, she lost a match that actually seemed to be going in her favor.

So many “hard lessons,” as she calls them.

“There were so many opportunities here, but I didn’t take advantage of them. I wasn’t ready. Then I got emotional. Then I just couldn’t handle the crowd.”

Despite all this, her love for New York and this tournament, the city, the courts, the stadium and yes, even the crowd, remained.

She remembered the past and responded, speaking first silently and then with her noise in front of the packed house.

“No, guys, not this time,” Sabalenka said on the pitch after everyone cheered her on at the end.Emma Navarro made a thrilling comeback in the second set, cheered on by the crowd at Arthur Ashe. (Kena Betancur / AFP via Getty Images)

Two games after the stadium went wild for Navarro, she and Sabalenka were in a tiebreak and the Belarusian once again showed off her skills: the power, the cutting backhand and the drop volley.

Navarro ran everywhere. She always does.

But a tennis court can be very big and Sabalenka used every inch of it to score four match points.

Then she finished things off by following one of her softest shots of the night with one of her hardest, hammering a final overhead shot off the court and into the stands.

Not this time. Sabalenka is on her way.

(Photo above: Robert Deutsch / Imagn Images)