Aryna Sabalenka jumped into the US Open title fight on Monday with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Jessica Pegula and won the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open. The third-seeded player, who missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, won a trophy for the first time since winning her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. Sabalenka had everything under control against the sixth-seeded American until she lost serve for the first time in the closing stages with the set score at 5-4. But a quick re-break and another loss of serve solved that problem and gave the Belarusian player her first Masters trophy on hard court since 2021.
“I really couldn’t have asked for anything better, it was a really great day at the office,” Sabalenka said afterwards.
“I’m just super happy with my level of play in the final and that I was able to win this title. That’s really important for the US Open.”
Sabalenka – who lost in the US Open final last year – has now defeated Pegula, who won in Toronto last week, in five of seven matches.
The winner will move up to second place in the world WTA rankings and is considered a serious contender when the Open begins in New York next Monday.
“I’m sure Jess and I will have more fights in the future,” Sabalenka said. “Let’s keep it up.”
The victory was Sabalenka’s sixth WTA 1000 title and the 15th of her career.
She shot ten aces and made three breaks during her 1 hour and 15 minute win.
Pegula had hoped for a double Cup win after his victory in Montreal last week.
“The last few weeks have been crazy, I’ve been on quite a winning streak. But hopefully the team and I can continue like this,” said the American.
“Unfortunately, Aryna was too good today. She played at a really high level and it didn’t seem to get any better.
“I had a few chances at the end but couldn’t take advantage of them. But I’m really proud of myself and the level I’ve been able to show in many games over the last few weeks.
“I have proven to myself that I can win many games in a row and handle many different challenges.”
The final was the first in Cincinnati between two top-10 opponents since Garbine Muguruza defeated Simona Halep here in 2017.
Sabalenka wasted no time and established her superiority with her break against Pegula in the first set to make it 3-1, a lead she maintained throughout the entire 30-minute opening match.
The third seed began the second set with an immediate break of Pegula and moved four games behind.
But the seeding was ruined when she served to win at 5-4. Sabalenka suffered her first break of the match when her sixth-seeded opponent launched a late counterattack.
But Sabalenka immediately managed a break, took a 6-5 lead and made the victory perfect with her first match point.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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