Sabalenka dropped just one set in seven matches in New York, but she more than earned her first US Open title. Since 2021, she had lost in the semifinals twice and the final once at Flushing Meadows, and each defeat had been a heartbreaker. First, she went out to little-known Leylah Fernandez 6-4 in the third set. Then she lost to Iga Swiatek after being up 4-2 in the third. Finally, she collapsed again Gauff after winning the first set, and chucked two of her racquets into a locker-room garbage can. Each time, it was Sabalenka’s own emotions, as much as her opponent’s skill, that sealed her fate.
This weekend, that same fate seemed to await her on three different occasions.
In her semifinal against another American, Emma Navarro, Sabalenka let a second-set lead slip, then fell behind in the tiebreaker. She stared at her team. She rolled her eyes. She banged her racquet on the court. But just when another meltdown appeared imminent, she gathered herself, stopped ranting, and closed Navarro out with mistake-free tennis.
“I was, like, ‘No, no, no, Aryna, it’s not going to happen again,’” she said after beating Navarro. “You have to control your emotions. You have to focus on yourself.”
“I’m really glad that the lessons [were] learned.”
