After narrowly missing out on a US Open title last year, a fully fit and confident Aryna Sabalenka returns to New York hoping that a mid-year break to focus on her health will enable her to make a breakthrough at the final Grand Slam of the year.
Sabalenka suffered a lower back injury this year, battled illness at the French Open, where she lost in the quarterfinals, skipped Wimbledon because of a shoulder injury and then sat out the Paris Olympics to prepare for the hard-court season.
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The reigning two-time Australian Open champion has since said that the much-needed break has allowed her to properly rehabilitate her injuries and that she feels mentally fresh.
She is coming off a dominant run in Cincinnati, where she didn’t drop a set all week, including in the semifinal against world number one Iga Swiatek and in her convincing win over Jessica Pegula in the final.
Now the 26-year-old Belarusian is traveling to New York full of confidence for the US Open, which takes place from August 26 to September 8, because it is her favorite Grand Slam tournament and she has done well there before.
Sabalenka has reached the second week in four of her six US Open main draw appearances, including the last three years when she reached the semifinals in 2021 and 2022 before finishing runner-up to Coco Gauff last year.
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“I would say I’m playing really great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “Probably not the best tennis I can play, but I’m definitely on my way there. And with every match I play, I feel better, better and better, and hopefully at the US Open I can continue to build my level and maybe even reach an even higher level than I used to play.”
There is little indication that world number two Sabalenka will not go far again in New York, as she is one of the most physically dominant players in the world and has a game that is tailor-made for hard courts.
Sabalenka, who always displays a strong-willed attitude when she steps onto the court, not only boasts a powerful serve, but also possesses aggressive baseline play and explosive groundstrokes and is completely comfortable at the net.
She dropped a set on her way to the final at last year’s US Open, where she managed three break wins against Gauff en route to winning the first set before the American forced a deciding set that took her own game to a new level.
