The tiger tattoo on her forearms and the sting she packs into her shots alone are not what define Aryna Sabalenka as a powerhouse on the tennis court. At the US Open final in noisy New York on Saturday night, the 26-year-old Belarussian showed how strong she is physically and mentally, outhitting Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 to win her maiden US Open. It was raining cats and dogs and the retractable roof had been rolled over. In such conditions, wherein there are changes in the conditions, as it becomes indoor hard court and not outdoor hard court, the players do have to make some changes to their games. For Aryna, it was easy as she came out smoking with tennis which was high standard, with winners flowing on either flank.
It’s no joke, when Pegula had lost to Sabalenka in the Cincinnati Open, a warm-up event before the US Open, the American had on mike started by addressing Aryna as Serena. The pronunciation sounded similar with a Yank accent, but the similarity did not end there. During her heydays, Serena was also extremely aggressive and showcased her skills with tennis strokes which were heavy and would find the lines deep. Soon, Pegula corrected herself and called her Aryna, which the champion from Belarus did not mind.
That it turned out to be a repeat of the Cincinnati Open in New York reflected the brand of tennis the two girls played, where Iga Swiatek was once again unable to produce tennis which could define her status as World No.1. The story is about Aryna and what all she has faced in the last two years as a professional. Rewind to 2022, when the Russia versus Ukraine war broke out, players from Russia and Belarus were treated shabbily by the fans, especially in tennis. They had to literally plead they had nothing to do with the war and what was happening in the war zone was not their fault. Someone like Aryna and even Elena Rybakina, born in Russia but living in Kazakhstan had to keep telling fans and media they had nothing to do with the war.
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The war madness is still on, and Aryna has now decided that the best way to silence critics is play her best tennis. She is unique in many ways as she loves aggression, which is confused with arrogance. When she won the title in Melbourne at the Australian Open, it was big. The two Grand Slams after that, Aryna was not the champion, what with Iga Swiatek still ranked No.1 on the WTA computer. Aryna does not mind it, she showed at the US Open, she is in a different zone, with only Ekaterina Alexandrova able to take a set off her. The other one who came close to pushing Aryna is Emma Navarro, who forced her to a tie-breaker.
There is something bold and beautiful about Aryna, who has achieved something big in terms of winning the Majors on hard courts. The Grand Slam season starts in Australia and to win in Melbourne is not easy where it is extremely hot outdoors and the best of players struggle with the court and atmospheric conditions. Aryna was champion there and then again showed that when it came to the tail end of the 2024 tennis season, she would not take her foot off the pedal. At 26, Aryna does crazy stuff. She finds time after a Grand Slam final to get her hair done up, and sports a flashy red dress for the photo shoot later. All this defines how much she loves herself and her game. She does more bizarre stuff as well, which was to get a ‘tiger tattoo’ on the head of her fitness coach Jason Stacy. Whether it is a temporary tattoo or not, nobody knows. But Aryna believes she is a tiger, and the tattoo on her forearm is proof of it.
Looking ahead, she is waiting to have another crack at the World No.1 ranking as well and is aware it can happen soon. “Another goal for sure is to try to become World No.1 again. But I don’t want to talk about this goal. I’m just trying to keep improving myself and keep getting better every day. But, now, I’ll definitely have some days off so I can just enjoy this win and I can switch off and forget about tennis for a little bit. So, I’ll keep this freshness till the end of the season. Six weeks is not that much,” said Aryna after her US Open triumph. Winning the Australian Open and US Open in the same season, a hard-court double is titanic. Even diva Serena Williams could not pull it off.
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