Sabalenka tops an impressive week with an impressive title in Cincinnati

ARYNA. SABALENKA.🤩
WOMEN’S. SINGLES. CHAMPION. #CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/3hDdlDYVRI

— Cincinnati Open (@CincyTennis) August 19, 2024

Aryna Sabalenka, seeded 3rd at the Cincinnati Open, won the 2024 title today when she defeated 6th seed Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 in the final. Sabalenka didn't drop a set all week, and she made her victory even sweeter by defeating world number 1 Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. 

No one worked harder than Pegula during this tournament. She arrived in Cincinnati fresh off of a title victory in Toronto, and--while she didn't face any seeded players--she faced the likes of 2023 runner-up Karolina Muchova, Taylor Townsend, an on-fire Leylah Fernandez, and former world number 2 Paula Badosa, who Pegula said hit the ball harder than anyone she had ever played. Most of her matches went to three sets; the Fernandez quarterfinal lasted over three hours. We kept waiting for Pegula to get tired, but she was energized and ready for each match.

She was ready for Sabalenka, too, but the Belarusian star was just too good today. She hit ten aces, and she had remarkable first and second serve percentages of 91.2 and 66.7. Pegula never saw a break opportunity.

I asked Sabalenka if she had learned anything this week, and she was quick to say:

"Yeah, you got to stay low on this surface. That's a very fast one. And yeah, if you, if you go a little bit up with the body, the ball flies really, really far in the stands. So you got to stay low, and you got to swing the ball, you know, without any fear of missing...the shot."

She talked about how hard she has worked in the last couple of years to improve her serve, and--when asked how she managed to stay so calm, she explained that she felt really emotional in Washington and Toronto, coming back from an injury, and "overreacting."

"...I just stepped back and realized that I played my great tennis when I was calm and kind of like, confident, that no matter what's what's going on the court, I'll be able to keep fighting and keep trying my best no matter what the score, what the situation is. And I just kind of, like realized that I just, I have to be that way. There is...no other way for me if I want to...do well here and New York."

Both Sabalenka and Pegula were candid and thoughtful in their remarks. Pegula acknowledged, when asked, that she's good at adapting and figuring things out in general, and she thinks that those skills have helped her on the tennis court. And Sabalenka acknowledged that experience has been the key for her in learning to deal with setbacks and losses and still maintain her confidence and resilience.

This is Sabalenka's sixth WTA 1000 title, and this is the 15th title overall for the two-time Australian Open champion, who now returns to her former ranking of number 2 in the world.

On Sunday, the team of Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe won the championship when they defeated Leylah Fernandez and Yulia Putintseva 3-6, 6-1, 10-4 in the final.