Aryna Sabalenka has 'a lot of good feelings' heading into US Open

August 20, 2024

Tennis News, US Open Tennis, WTA Tennis Players

Aryna Sabalenka has ‘a lot of good feelings’ heading into the US Open after Cincinnati victory

Aryna Sabalenka has claimed her first Cincinnati Open title in dominant fashion, winning the WTA 1000 tournament without dropping a single set.

Sabalenka beat American Jessica Pegula, 6-3 7-5, to win her first title since the Australian Open back in January.

The Belarusian has still had some positive results since then, but has more recently been dealing with a shoulder injury that forced her to withdraw from Wimbledon.

When speaking after the match, Sabalenka spoke about how much this title means to her, “This trophy means a lot. This is a really big achievement, especially coming after a small injury, still having this fear of getting injured again.

“My team did everything they could to make sure I felt as good as I can and I am proud of myself I was able to handle all of those emotions.”

Sabalenka will now return to World No.2 after leapfrogging Coco Gauff in the rankings, with the 26-year-old seemingly looking forward to the upcoming US Open.

“It’s given me a lot of good feelings going to New York,” said Sabalenka. “But as I always say, it’s already in the past and I just have to focus on my game and on improving myself every day.”

3 – Since 2004, Aryna Sabalenka is the third player to win the title at the Cincinnati Open without dropping a set after Vera Zvonareva in 2006 and Ashleigh Barty in 2021. Perfect. #CincyTennis | @CincyTennis @WTA @WTA_insider pic.twitter.com/JkjU09meBB

— OptaAce (@OptaAce) August 19, 2024

Sabalenka and the rest of the main draw will learn their US Open fates when the draw takes place on Thursday at 12pm Eastern Time (5pm BST).

Inside the baseline…

It was a truly impressive and needed week for Aryna Sabalenka, who probably goes into the US Open as the favourite now after beating some of biggest her rivals this week, including World No.1 Iga Swiatek. After spending some time out with injury and being unable to win a title in nearly seven months, there were probably some doubts starting to kick in for the Belarusian, so this is just what she needed. Sabalenka was only a set away from winning the title in New York last year and will likely be more hungry than ever to go one step further in just under a week’s time.