Aryna Sabalenka is ready to ‘fight for every point’ in her quest for US Open glory

By George Ramsay, CNN

(CNN) — After three deep runs at the US Open, Aryna Sabalenka is close to cracking the formula for success at tennis’ final grand slam of the year.

Close because, following two semifinal losses and a painful defeat in the final, she hasn’t managed to get her hands on the winner’s trophy in New York. Not quite yet, but perhaps soon.

Sabalenka enters this year’s US Open, which begins on Monday, as a strong favorite on an upward trajectory, recently winning the 15th WTA title of her career in Cincinnati without dropping a set.

Now, a year since she watched an early lead slip away against Coco Gauff in the final, the Belarusian returns to Flushing Meadows as a favorite for the women’s singles title, potentially becoming the ninth first-time champion over the past 10 tournaments.

“Sport, most of the time, is so unpredictable, especially with tennis,” Sabalenka tells CNN Sport. “I’m not focusing on that … I’m just trying to focus on myself, bringing my best tennis onto the court, and hopefully, I can keep tradition going and there will be another new winner of the US Open on the list.”

Sabalenka was in tears after her defeat in last year’s final, a devastating reminder of just how frustrating and lonely tennis can be. After the leaving the court, she was filmed removing a racket from her bag, crushing the frame against the ground, then dumping it in a nearby bin.

The loss, Sabalenka later said, was a “lesson” for “overthinking” in the middle of the match. She’s hoping to put those learnings into practice over the coming weeks, determined not to get too caught up in how she’s performing.

For the most part, the 26-year-old says that she was able to do that last year.

“Of course, I have to work hard, I have to fight for every point on the court, but then I have to also give myself time,” she says. “I have to enjoy my time off the court – go to good restaurants, kind of maintaining balance.

“Not only always thinking about tennis, but also having something to kind of separate things and forget about tennis, even if it’s for 10 hours. So being able to do that, that’s also really important for me. That’s why last year, I was able to do so well – because I was really good at separating things.”

Following her victory in Cincinnati, Sabalenka barely had time to think about tennis. The very next day, she was in New York to promote her new collaboration with açaí brand Oakberry – “a really cool partnership,” she explains, and one which includes the launch of her own creation, the “Power Serve Bowl.”

A first-round match against Australia’s Priscilla Hon at the US Open now awaits, during which Sabalenka will look to extend her strong recent form several weeks after withdrawing from Wimbledon with a shoulder injury.

That was the first time in two years that Sabalenka, a two-time champion at the Australian Open, had missed a grand slam tournament, but the experience of having to miss Wimbledon has only made her even more determined heading into the US Open.

“I feel like I’m super hungry and I’m super excited,” says Sabalenka, who has played three tournaments since returning from the shoulder injury, her confidence growing with every match.

“The most challenging thing was having this fear of getting the same injury again,” she added. “The intensity was quite high. The first matches, I was kind of checking how I was feeling, if my shoulder is okay or not, because I didn’t play high intensity matches in a month.

“That was the most challenging thing. In the first two tournaments, I felt like with every match I played, I kind of felt better and better, and then finally things clicked in Cincinnati.”

Some would argue that Sabalenka’s enforced break from tennis could benefit her in the long run, particularly if it allows her to reset mentally and physically.

“I think [she] may be freshest of them all because she didn’t play the Olympics,” tennis great Martina Navratilova recently told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour when looking ahead to the US Open. “Everybody else, they might be tired emotionally or they have some niggling injuries. We’ll see who can stay healthy and who wants it more.”

Sabalenka rose to second in the rankings after consecutive victories against world No. 1 Iga Świątek and No. 6 Jessica Pegula in Cincinnati. The victory against Świątek, ending a run of three straight defeats against the Pole, felt like a breakthrough moment, breaking her rival five times while facing just two break points of her own.

When she’s at her best, finding the target with her thunderous serve and mighty ground shots, Sabalenka’s power game is unmatched in the women’s game. That was the case when she stormed to the Australian Open title at the start of the year without dropping a set, only once losing more than five games in a single match.

Cincinnati was her first victory since then, though Sabalenka has still been able to produce deep runs at tournaments in the face of personal tragedy; in March, her ex-boyfriend, former NHL player Konstantin Koltsov, died by what police called an “apparent suicide.”

Wearing all black, Sabalenka returned to the tennis court at the Miami Open days later, and then reached clay finals in Madrid and Rome in the months that followed. Reflecting on her performances this season, she says that it’s been a “really great year” so far.

“Overall, I’m really happy with the level I’m playing right now and the way I’m coming back after different challenges,” she says. “I would say I’m really proud of myself this year.”

There are still plenty more tournaments to contest over the coming months – the US Open notwithstanding – and plenty more for Sabalenka, a former world No. 1, to achieve both on and off the court.

“There are a lot of goals and a lot of targets,” she says. “It’s so obvious, the goals – everyone wants to be world No. 1, everyone wants to win the biggest tournaments of the year. That’s the goal, I think, for everyone.

“But for me, the goal is to keep working on myself and make sure that I’m better as a player and as a person every day. That’s the main goal.”

Since 2015, only Naomi Osaka has claimed the women’s US Open title more than once, while every other winner was a first-time champion. Sabalenka, having tasted triumph and weathered tragedy already this year, will be leaving everything on the court as she aims to add her name to the trophy.

“You just have to bring your best, fight as hard as you can, and hope for the best,” she says. “That’s my mentality going to a grand slam.”

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