Hard court queen

Aryna Sabalenka has successfully carried out error correction work

Aryna Sabalenka has won 27 of the 28 major matches played on hard courts over the past two years, losing only to Coco Gauff in the 2023 US Open final. By winning the decisive match of the 2024 US Open on September 7th, the Minsk-born tennis player closed the gestalt. Good job!

Belarusian tennis player Aryna Sabalenka has won her first US Open Grand Slam  REUTERS

Taking into account the January victory at the Australian Open, Sabalenka won her second Grand Slam title this season. The final in New York against Jessica Pegula from the USA turned out to be very difficult for Aryna, but she managed to draw a lesson from her bitter defeat in 2023, did not flinch at the end of both sets and deserved the victory — 7-5, 7-5.
In last year’s final against Coco Gauff, the Belarusian clinched the first set but then yielded under the pressure of the stands. This time, in New York, Aryna was constantly stressing: That lesson has been learnt, it will not happen again.
The final against Pegula checked Sabalenka for rupture in the second set. The Belarusian took a 3-0 lead and had a break point, but tenacious Pegula first managed to hold her serve, and then won five games in a row. Five! With the score 5-3 in favour of the American tennis player, the stands were passionately cheering for their home favourite and many already believed in the possibility of a third set. However, Sabalenka returned to her former self and won the end of the set, match and major in style. “I’m speechless right now. I can’t put two words together. I’m very happy. I remember all the tough losses here at the US Open. They say you’re gonna see the reason later. I see the reason right now,” Aryna both cried and laughed during the on-court interview. “I’ve been through a lot on and off the court. I just figured out for myself how to control my emotions and stay balanced. I had to go through tough lessons to hold this beautiful trophy. I think I’m the happiest person in the world right now.”
The days, weeks, and months that fit between Sabalenka’s two triumphs included the breakup and the tragedy with Konstantin Koltsov, a shoulder injury and a frustrating defeat to the rising tennis star, Mirra Andreeva, in the Roland Garros quarterfinals, skipping Wimbledon and the Olympics, Formula 1 and the newfound formula of love with Brazilian Greek Georgios Frangulis, the painful search for the previous form and return to Cincinnati. Since then, she has played 12 matches and won all of them.

Sabalenka has become only the fifth tennis player in the Open Era to win both hard court majors in one season following Monica Seles (1991 and 1992), Steffi Graf (1988 and 1989), Angelique Kerber (2016) and Martina Hingis (1997). In total, the Belarusian athlete has 16 WTA titles.

The reaction of the tennis world underlines the fairness of the Belarusian’s success. “Amazing win for Aryna. Congratulations. Best player in the world this season!” Victoria Azarenka, who has played in the US Open finals three times but never won, posted a congratulatory message on her social network page. These are the words from great Martina Navratilova, “Congratulations to Aryna on her third Grand Slam victory and her first at the US Open. Today it is deserved!” Sabalenka’s main rival on the tennis tour, five-time Grand Slam champion, Poland’s Iga Świątek, extended her congratulations to the Belarusian, “Congratulations, Aryna. A wonderful tournament.” Now, even taking into account the victory at the US Open, Sabalenka is more than two thousand points behind Iga — and therefore there is no struggle between them for the title of the first racket of the world — but in the race to the WTA Finals at the end of the calendar year, the gap between the Belarusian and the Polish is only 409 points. Why doesn’t Sabalenka compete for the champion title in 2024?

By Vladimir Dmitriev