WHAT HAPPENED: Top seed Aryna Sabalenka, after three deep Grand Slam runs this season without a title, continues to look forward as she defends her US Open crown.
Sabalenka took another step in that direction when ousting unseeded Polina Kudermetova, 7-6(4), 6-2, in a second-round match in Arthur Ashe Stadium on Wednesday night.
Reaching the Australian Open and Roland Garros finals, plus the semifinals at Wimbledon, would be a career year for most players. But the bar is set so high for the No. 1-ranked Sabalenka, a three-time Grand Slam winner, that she’s eager to cap the summer minus a bummer.
If Sabalenka can repeat as the US Open women’s singles champion, she will become the first player to do so since Serena Williams, 2012-14. But she’s also aware that there have been 10 different women titlists in the last 11 years in New York City. That’s a lot of traffic to the winner’s circle, mimicking the 7 train on nights like this, when the New York Mets share the subway station with the US Open.
Sabalenka eventually got on track, but she had a compelling rival in Kudermetova, someone she last played (and beat) in the Brisbane final. Like Sabalenka, Kudermetova hits with a ton of pace, preferring to go big rather than rely on guile and deception.
The trick was Sabalenka finding her rhythm. She appeared unsettled, especially in the first set when she was broken in the first game and had to manipulate her way to a successful first-set tiebreak, lifting her record in breakers to 19-1 this year.
“The first set I was super tight, it was super aggressive,’’ Sabalenka said. “It was almost like there were no [long] points. It was more about serve and the first shot. I was glad I was able to handle the pressure and give it back to her.’’
The second set was all Sabalenka as Kudermetova, ranked No. 67, used a medical timeout to treat a balky knee and was betrayed by her spotty serve, which led to nine double faults overall.
Sabalenka prevailed, 6-2 in the set, on a night she’ll remember for not being very memorable.
“The second set felt much better on my return game,’’ she said. “And my serve was better.”
WHAT IT MEANS: Sabalenka needs to lift her play, especially her backhand, as she was fortunate to get past Kudermetova—and her team knows it. At different times she looked frustrated, off-balance, uneasy and any other adjective that comes to mind of someone with a game that’s askew.
It also reveals how talented Sabalenka is: She can win in straight sets when she’s far from her best. Time for Sabalenka to eye her tiger tattoo and show her teeth.
Next she faces No. 31 seed Canadian Leylah Fernandez, who lost to Emma Raducanu in the 2021 US Open singles final. Fernandez defeated France’s Elsa Jacquemot, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, earlier on Wednesday.
MATCH POINT: Although Sabalenka hasn’t been spotted wearing an “I Love New York” T-shirt, her heart obviously belongs to the Big Apple with her sustained success at one of its biggest sporting events. In the last four US Opens, Sabalenka has been a champion, a finalist and twice a semifinalist.
