Aryna Sabalenka's long-time coach Anton Dubrov has expressed his views on Roger Federer attending his ward's last-eight victory against Zheng Qinwen at the US Open earlier this month. The 29-year-old hilariously disclosed that he feared the World No. 2 would stray from her power-packed baseline game and resort to slicing, which was Federer's go-to on his backhand during his post-prime years.Sabalenka was in scintillating form at Flushing Meadows in September, dropping only one set en route to her third-career Major title. While the Belarusian received stiff resistance from her final two opponents, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, her 6-1, 6-2 win over seventh-seeded Zheng Qinwen in the quarterfinals was her most dominant performance during the fortnight in New York.Aryna Sabalenka's coach Anton Dubrov recently told Championat that his charge's rout of Qinwen at the Arthur Ashe Stadium came in the presence of Roger Federer, who was spotted sitting in one of the stadium boxes by the cameras midway through the match.Dubrov joked that at the time, he felt Sabalenka would desert their pre-match strategy to impress Federer with her finesse instead."Yes, yes, when Federer came to her match, I thought: "Oh, Aryna will start cutting now, showing how cool we are (laughs)," Anton Dubrov told Championat. "After the match, she admitted that she said to herself: 'Here I looked at him, thought: Okay, Aryna, but let's not try to play well now, slice.' I'm like, 'Well, thank god,' otherwise, we would start to show off.""I had to show my skills" - Aryna Sabalenka on spotting Roger Federer on the big screenAryna Sabalenka hits a forehand at US Open 2024Following her last-eight victory, Aryna Sabalenka said during her post-match press conference that she had been intent on showing Roger Federer her "best tennis" after noticing him on the big screen inside the Arthur Ashe Stadium."I saw him there, saw him on the big screen. I mean, I'm pretty sure he came to watch Tiafoe and Dimitrov, but still, I was like, 'Okay, I have to play my best tennis so he enjoys it,'" Sabalenka said (via WTA). "I had to show my skills you know, slice skills, come to the net and all that stuff."The 26-year-old has won three tournaments in 2024: the Australian Open, the US Open and the Cincinnati Open. She had a good start to her indoor hardcourt season on Saturday (September 28), downing Thailand's Mananchaya Sawangkaew 6-4, 6-1 in the second round of the China Open.The Belarusiaon will next take on Ashlyn Krueger, with the winner facing either 13th seed Beatriz Haddad Maia or 18th seed Madison Keys in the fourth round.