Explore Aryna Sabalenka’s confident advancement at the 2024 US Open. Get insights into her performance and the key moments that define her tournament experience.
Introduction:
No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka is proving time is all that you need in tennis. After a troubled season derailed by a shoulder injury, the 26-year-old Belarusian has staged an incredible summer comeback. Recent performances really signal a return to the best form just in time for the 2024 US Open. Sabalenka began her resurgence by reaching the quarterfinals in Toronto before going further with a semifinal finish in Washington. She capped all of that off by winning in Cincinnati, where she didn’t drop a set enroute to the title.
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This truly amazing run of results couldn’t have come at a better time. Now, with the US Open under way, Sabalenka is poised to improve on her runner-up effort a year ago and claim her very first Flushing Meadow championship. Her first match of the tournament, against the Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon, turned out to be a show of force, as she left precious little to chance—stitching together a 6-3, 6-3 dominant win.
The First Round Match: A Firm Start
In Monday’s opening-round match, the 26-year old Australian Priscilla Hon—the very same playing for the second-ever main draw of the US Open—stood in the way of Sabalenka. Hon showed all the assurance and vigor of a veteran, staying with shot for shot under the bright lights of the Louis Armstrong Stadium. Both players produced five winners and exactly seven unforced errors in the first set alone, but the better serve-win rate, at 91% off the first delivery, applied to that of Sabalenka.
The powerful baseline play of Sabalenka gave her a 3-1 second-set lead. Hon then tried to break up Sabalenka’s rhythm with variations in pace, a tactic that worked well enough for one serve-breaking moment at 3-2. But again, Sabalenka immediately recovered. Coming back from 0-40 down in two consecutive service games, she extended her edge to 5-2. Even though Hon showed great determination to keep herself in the match, Sabalenka finished it off with love to secure her place in the second round.
Unpacking on her performance, Sabalenka said, “If we compare the first round in Cincinnati and the first round here, I would say I did much better here. But compared with the semis and final, I think I didn’t play my best tennis today. But I’m happy, even if I didn’t feel myself at 100% today, that I was able to keep myself in the game and put a lot of pressure on the opponent. I’m quite happy with the level today.”
All eyes on this prize: Aryna Sabalenka’s way out
As reigning Australian Open champion, Sabalenka is not new to the big stage. She has reached the US Open semifinals or better in her past three attempts. Her going form now is suggestive that she is well disposed to make it to latter rounds this year. She will go up against Lucia Bronzetti of Italy in the second round. Sabalenka leads Bronzetti 1-0 in their head-to-head, though she defeated the Italian in straight sets on the Brisbane hardcourts this winter.
Clearly, Sabalenka’s goal is to become the first woman champion since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win both Grand Slam hard-court competitions in the same year. If she can keep up the good work and reach the seven combined records at Flushing Meadows, then Sabalenka might cap an exceptional season with the US Open.
There will always be tough battles in Hon’s world of tennis.
Head held high, Priscilla Hon; what an absolute fighter of an effort by the Australian. She left everything on the court, disturbing one of the pre-tournament favorites to produce her best. Although she is still after her first tour-level main-draw win in the season, Hon’s performance against Sabalenka can prove that she has all the potential to compete at the highest level.
Conclusion: All Set
Aryna Sabalenka has begun her 2024 US Open campaign with a solid, emphatic victory. The Belarusian obviously hit peak form at just the right time and seems in every way set to go deep into this tournament. Next up was keeping on plowing her way through the draw. Now, attention will turn to Sabalenka and whether she can lay her hands on the elusive US Open crown and cement herself as among the best on tour.