After Aryna Sabalenka’s Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Amanda Anisimova last month, the world No 1 walked into the media theatre determined not to make the same mistake. Sabalenka laughed as she sat down, telling the room: “You’re not going to see that Roland Garros press conference, so anyone who was waiting for that, you can leave right now!”
Sabalenka arrives at the US Open without winning a grand slam title this season, the same as 124 other players in the women’s singles draw, the majority of whom would trade their results for Sabalenka’s in an instant. The 27-year-old has reached the finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros, as well as the semi-finals of Wimbledon. She has won three titles, including WTA 1000 tournaments at Indian Wells and Madrid, and remains world No 1 ahead of her return to New York, where she will be defending her title.
But Sabalenka is also in a curious position. Her mood after the surprise defeat to Anisimova, and the lesson she had learned from her extraordinary reaction to her French Open final defeat to Coco Gauff just weeks before, illustrated how the Belarusian’s season has been defined more by her losses and the battle with herself to handle the difficult moments that follow them. This has also been a year where Sabalenka attracted some criticism for smashing her rackets after defeat to Madison Keys in the Australian Open final.
Sabalenka’s frustration came because she was the favourite to win in Melbourne. Her bitterness after defeat to Gauff came from the position she had been in before the American’s comeback, and the manner of her unravelling. The face Sabalenka put on following the Wimbledon semi-final could not hide that she had, again, been unable to convert at the business end of a grand slam. She has reached at least the quarter-finals in her last 11 grand slam tournaments in a row, and has won more titles than anyone other than Swiatek since the start of 2023, but that conversation rate could come under question should she fall at the same hurdle.
How would Sabalenka’s season be viewed if she did not defend her US Open title? It would feel harsh to label it as a failure. Describing it as a missed opportunity may be fairer, especially given the dominant position Sabalenka looked to be in after defeating Swiatek in the French Open semi-finals. Now, with Swiatek stealing ahead to win Wimbledon and looking refreshed and re-energised by her return to form, Sabalenka may not even be the favourite ahead of the US Open.
So much depends, of course, on how the fortnight unfolds. An inescapable fact as Sabalenka steps into the US Open is that her last three defeats at the grand slams have come to American opponents: Keys, Gauff and Anisimova. Sabalenka may have apologised to Gauff after the comments that followed the French Open final, but many fans are more likely to be aware of what was said rather than Gauff accepting the apology and both players moving on.
And while Sabalenka was more gracious after losing to Anisimova, there was a comment that stuck out when she appeared to criticise her opponent for celebrating a net-cord winner. We await to see what reception Sabalenka receives in New York, but her path to the final has perhaps been eased by all of Gauff, Keys and Anisimova landing on the opposite side of the draw, along with the second seed Swiatek. Sabalenka, though, may face a rematch with Elena Rybakina, who dismissed her 6-1, 6-4 in Cincinnati.
Sabalenka managed to conquer the home crowd when she defeated Jessica Pegula to win her first US Open title in 2024, burying some of the demons that had followed her loss to Gauff the previous year. It represented a step forward, but at other times this season there have been some signs of regression, with familiar cracks reappearing. And for a player whose consistency at the biggest events has become so impressive, Sabalenka is now under some pressure to deliver when it counts.
