Recently crowned world No.1 Aryna Sabalenka overcame a nightmare start to her latest match at the US Open to reach the final for the first time in her career.
Sabalenka, who will move to the top of the rankings on Monday, lost eight out of the first nine games against home favorite Madison Keys before fighting back to win 0-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(10-5). The dramatic encounter saw the Belarussian also recover from a 2-4 deficit in the decider during the two-and-a-half-hour battle. In total, she hit 35 winners against 39 unforced errors.
“She played incredible tennis, it was just another level. Somehow, I don’t know how I turned around this match,” said Sabalenka.
“It really means a lot to be in the final of the US Open for the first time.”
The rollercoaster encounter was a stern test of Sabalenaka’s emotions who at one stage smashed her racket out of anger. Then in the final tiebreaker, she thought she won the match before realizing that it was the first to 10 points.
“I thought that we play tie-break up to till seven,” she said. “I was just all over the place.”
It is only the third time in the Open Era that a player has won a major semi-final match after losing the first set to love. The other two to do so were Steffi Graf at the 1992 French Open and Ana Ivanovic at the 2008 Australian Open. Sabalenka is the first woman since 2016 to have reached the final of both the Australian Open and US Open within the same season.
She has now won 50 matches this season. It is the first time in her career that she has managed to reach this number within the same year.
Gauff awaits
Standing in the way of the 25-year-old claiming this year’s US Open title is Coco Gauff who ousted Karoline Muchova 6-4, 7-5, in her semi-final match. It is the second time in her career that she has reached a Grand Slam final.
“It was a tough match,” said Gauff. “There were a lot of emotional challenges in the match. But I think I did a good job of staying focused. I’m just really proud of myself.”
Besides the drama on the court, the match had to be halted for 50 minutes following protests from environmental protesters with one of them gluing their feet to the ground. The incident started when Gauff was leading 6-4, 1-0. The group Extinction Rebellion has said they were behind the protest.
Despite her age, Gauff believes she can clinch the trophy after learning from her previous experience of reaching the final at Roland Garros last season. Should she win, she would become only the fourth American woman to claim the title this century after the Williams sisters and Sloane Stephens.
“I have been focusing more on myself and my expectations of myself. Not going on social media or listening to people who believe that I can or believe that I can’t,” she explained.
“I really believe that now I have the maturity and ability to do it, I’m proud of how I have been handling the last few weeks.”
Heading into the final, Sabalenka is currently trailing 2-3 to Gauff in their head-to-head but won their most recent meeting 6-4, 6-0, in March at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Although she has played down the significance of that win.
“She improved a lot. So it’s a different player. We don’t like thinking about that match,” she said of Gauff.
“Going into this final, I think I just have to focus on myself and prepare myself for another fight. No matter what, just keep fighting and keep playing my best and do my best.”
A key factor in the final could be who wins the first set with four out of their five previous meetings being won by the player who claimed the opener. Furthermore, Gauff has won her past 15 hardcourt matches after claiming the first set.
The final will take place on Saturday.
