Aryna Sabalenka was made to work hard in the first set as the defence of her US Open title started with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Rebeka Masarova in the first round.
The top seed, though far from her best, sealed the win as world No.108 Masarova’s game unravelled in a second set where Sabalenka could count herself fortunate her opponent didn’t reproduce the level she showed in the first.
Sabalenka was typically honest about her game in the post-match on-court interview.
“I’m super happy with the win. I would say that the beginning of the first set wasn’t that great but then I found my rhythm and I feel like (I’m) back home and I’m super excited to play the next round.”
“I was just reminding myself how strong I am and I can get this (first) set and then when I won that set point I hear people cheering and I got goosebumps and I had really great energy inside of me and in the second set it felt like everything was working my way.”
There were nerves for Sabalenka in the early part of the first set, and in her third service game, some stray forehands gave Masarova two break points, with another error gifting the break to her Swiss opponent.
Sabalenka raised her intensity and corrected some early issues with her return positioning, immediately breaking back. Although Masarova steadied to hold the next game, Sabalenka kept turning the screw to avoid a tie-break, sealing the first set 7-5 on a spectacular point in which she somehow returned a smash down the line before finishing at the net with a winner past a despondent Masarova, who had otherwise been the more consistent player throughout the set.
The second set was scrappy from both players, with Sabalenka fending off three break points before two consecutive double faults from Masarova handed the top seed the advantage. From there Masarova’s game fell away, allowing Sabalenka to ease through to the next round in 81 minutes, though the defending champion will have plenty to reflect on in the coming days, as she discussed briefly post-match.
“I think it’s absolutely normal to feel the pressure. All of us feel different sorts of pressure. I just want to focus on myself and do everything I can, possible and impossible, on court to reach my goal by the end of the year.”
Sabalenka will next face Polina Kudermetova, who took the Belarusian to three sets on the way to her opening title this year at the Brisbane International. Kudermetova progresses to the second round after a first-round walkover against Nuria Parrizas-Diaz, who retired from their match at 2-2 after hurting her ankle.
