Cincinnati (AFP) – Aryna Sabalenka was keeping a brave face on Wednesday as she prepped for her final US Open warm-up in Cincinnati, where the former champion is the top women’s seed in the ATP-WTA Masters 1000 event. The four-time Grand Slam champion, who has claimed all of her major titles on hard courts, won in Cincinnati two years ago to lay the ground work for her first US Open trophy a few weeks later.
But 2026 has been a dud by her world-class standards, with three titles overall but none since Miami in the spring. She came to the rainy American Midwest after exiting last week in the Toronto fourth round. Her Wimbledon was equally flat, losing at that same stage to Naomi Osaka. But instead of pouting, Sabalenka, her fiance, and travelling pet dog Ash hit the beach in Mykonos for some VIP-style relaxation.
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“I wanted to stay away from tennis for a little bit so I could refresh, restart and be hungry again,” the 28-year-old with a 21-7 record in Cincinnati said. “I love this time (the lull between Grand Slams)…there are no expectations. I’ll just go out there, compete and fight.”
Like all seeds at the 12-day tournament — which has been unable to get qualifying underway due to heavy rains and storm warnings — Sabalenka has a first-round bye. She’ll open in the second round against either Australian Talia Gibson or a qualifier. Her to-do list is simple, she said: “Compete, fight and enjoy. I have no fear.”
To that end, Sabalenka hopes to avoid re-living her recent past. “Every time I (look back) I get a little bit crazy and emotional. I try to focus on staying present and doing everything I can now. This summer, I had huge expectations that I’d succeed in the tournaments, and I desperately wanted to. But my body stopped me from that, and some things didn’t really work my way.”
© 2024 AFP
