Aryna Sabalenka displayed a powerful serve and dominating ground strokes and won her second consecutive U.S. Open title Saturday as she defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-3, 7-6.
Sabalenka is the top-ranked women's player in the world, but the pressure was squarely on her shoulders when she stepped on to the court at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York. She had lost previous Grand Slam finals this year in the Australian Open and the French Open, and she lost at Wimbledon in the semifinals.
That defeat came against Anisimova, as the emotional Sabalenka had a hard time keeping her cool in that classic tournament when she fell behind against her hard-hitting rival.
That was not a problem in the U.S. Open Final. Anisimova got off to a solid start and took a 3-2 lead in the first set when Sabalenka found her game. She took advantage of inconsistent serving by Anisimova to come through with multiple breaks and she used her own powerful serve to consolidate those breaks.
While New Jersey native Anisimova was the crowd's favorite, Sabalenka was treated warmly throughout the match and fans applauded enthusiastically after the victory was secured.
Sabalenka was overcome with joy after finishing the tournament as Anisimova's final shot finished outside the lines and secured the final point in the tiebreaker.
“It's been a tough year, but the feeling now is just beyond words,” Sabalenka said. “I am speechless right now.”
That was not exactly the case, as Sabalenka went on to speak for 15 minutes, congratulating Anisimova, thanking her coaches and support team and telling the crowd how much she appreciated them.
Sabalenka nearly let Anisimova back into the match
After winning the first set, Sabalenka had a 5-4 lead and she was serving for the U.S. Open title. With the score tied at 30, Sabalenka was successful on a very heavy first serve that her opponent managed to return. Sabalenka nearly put away the plus-one shot, but Anisimova got her racket on it and managed to get it back. Sabalenka had an overhead smash to put the point away, but she drove the ball into the net.
Instead of being one point away from victory, she was one point away from getting her serve broken and that's just what happened.
In the past, Sabalenka might have lost control of her emotions at that point, but she did not allow that to happen. She forced the tiebreaker with a strong service game and rolled to a 7-3 victory in the tiebreaker.
