Aryna Sabalenka is getting close to understanding the recipe for success at the last grand slam of the tennis season after three deep runs at the US Open.
Close because she hasn’t been able to hold the winner’s trophy in New York after suffering two semifinal setbacks and an agonizing loss in the championship match. Maybe not right now, but soon enough.
Sabalenka is a heavy favorite going into this year’s US Open, which gets underway on Monday. She just won her 15th career WTA title in Cincinnati without dropping a set.
The Belarusian is favored to win the women’s singles championship at Flushing Meadows this time around, one year after she witnessed an early lead over Coco Gauff in the final slip away. She might become the sixth first-time champion in the previous ten events.
Tennis in particular is a highly unexpected sport most of the time, Sabalenka told Sport flash. “I’m not concentrating on it. I’m just attempting to concentrate on myself, play the best tennis I can, and maybe I can continue the history of the US Open producing new winners.
After losing in last year’s final, Sabalenka broke down in tears, a heartbreaking reminder of how isolating and lonely the game of tennis can be. She was seen on camera taking a racket out of her bag, smashing its frame on the ground, and throwing it into a neighboring trash can after leaving the court.
Later on, Sabalenka claimed that the defeat was a “lesson” for “overthinking” throughout the game. In the upcoming weeks, she hopes to put those lessons into practice while being careful not to let her performance go to the point where she becomes overwhelmed.
The 26-year-old claims that she was able to do that last year for the most part.
She states, “Of course, I have to put in a lot of effort and fight for every point on the court, but I also have to give myself time off.” “I have to take advantage of my time off the court by going to nice places and keeping my equilibrium.
“Having something to sort of separate things and forget about tennis, even if it’s for ten hours, is just as important as constantly thinking about tennis. Thus, the ability to do that is also very important to me. I was really skilled at separating things, which is why I was able to do so well last year.
Following her victory in Cincinnati, Sabalenka barely had time to think about tennis. The very next day, she was in New York to promote her new collaboration with açaí brand Oakberry – “a really cool partnership,” she explains, and one which includes the launch of her own creation, the “Power Serve Bowl.”
A first-round match against Australia’sPriscilla Hon at the US Open now awaits, during which Sabalenka will look to extend her strong recent form several weeks after withdrawing from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury.
Although Sabalenka, the two-time Australian Open winner, had not missed a major slam tournament in two years, her experience of missing Wimbledon has only strengthened her resolve going into the US Open.
After recovering from her shoulder injury, Sabalenka has participated in three competitions, her confidence rising with each victory. “I feel like I’m super hungry and I’m super excited,” she adds.
The most difficult thing, she said, was her worry of suffering the same injury once more. “There was a lot of intensity. Since I hadn’t played a high-stakes tournament in a month, I was kind of checking on my shoulder during the early matches to see how it was doing.
That proved to be the most difficult task. I felt like I was getting better and better every match I played in the first two tournaments, and then things really started to click in Cincinnati.
Days later, Sabalenka made a comeback to the tennis court, this time in all black. In the months that followed, she advanced to the clay finals in Madrid and Rome. She describes this season as a “really great year” in reflection of her performances. “I’m really happy with my current level of play and how I’m recovering from different challenges overall,” she states. “This year, I feel really proud of myself,” Aside from the US Open, Sabalenka, a former world No. 1, has a lot more competitions to compete in and goals to accomplish both on and off the court in the upcoming months
“There are numerous objectives and targets,” she states. “The objectives are pretty clear: everyone wants to be ranked #1 in the world and to win the largest competitions of the year. That should be everyone’s aim, in my opinion. However, my objective is to continue improving myself and make sure that I become a better player and person every day. It’s the primary objective. “You just have to bring your best, fight as hard as you can, and hope for the best,” she says. “That’s my mentality going to a grand slam.”
