Cincinnati (AFP) – Aryna Sabalenka thrust herself into US Open title contention on Monday with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Jessica Pegula to win the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open. The third seed, who missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, won a trophy for the first time since collecting her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January.
Sabalenka had it all her way against the American sixth seed until the closing stages when she lost serve for the first time, leading 5-4 in the second set. However, a quick re-break and another hold of serve solved that problem and produced a first Masters-level trophy on hardcourt since 2021 for the Belarusian player. “I really couldn’t have wished for more — it was a really great day at the office,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “Just super happy with the level I played in the final and I was able to get this title. It’s really important going into the US Open.”
Sabalenka, who was beaten in last year’s US Open final, has now defeated Pegula, who was the champion last week in Toronto, in five of their seven matches. The win will move her to second in the world in the WTA rankings and she has emerged as a serious contender as the Open begins in New York next Monday. “I’m sure Jess and I will have more battles in the future,” Sabalenka remarked. “Let’s keep it up.”
The victory marked Sabalenka’s sixth WTA 1000 title and the 15th of her career. She fired 10 aces and broke serve three times during the 1 hour and 15 minutes of play. Pegula had been hoping for a trophy double after winning in Montreal the previous week. “The last few weeks have been crazy; I’d put together quite a streak. But hopefully the team and I can keep going forward,” the American expressed. “Unfortunately, too good from Aryna today. She was playing at a really high level, and it didn’t seem to come down.”
“I had some chances at the end, but I wasn’t able to do it. But I’m really proud of myself for the last couple of weeks for the level I’ve been able to display, playing a lot of matches. I’ve proved to myself that I can win a lot of matches in a row and be able to handle a lot of different challenges.”
The final was the first at Cincinnati between two top-10 opponents since Garbine Muguruza defeated Simona Halep here in 2017. Sabalenka wasted no time in establishing superiority with her break of Pegula for 3-1 in the first set, a margin which she maintained throughout the 30-minute opener. The third seed began the second set with an immediate break of Pegula and then served up four games to love. However, her momentum was disrupted while serving for victory at 5-4, as Sabalenka was broken for the first time in the match when her sixth-seeded opponent made a late stand. Nevertheless, Sabalenka broke back immediately for a 6-5 lead and polished off the win on her first match point.
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