2023-09-09 23:02:00
Aryna Sabalenka’s great comeback in the semifinals will forever go down in US Open history. The Belarusian cursed, threw her rackets, argued with the coach, lost to smithereens, but still managed to miraculously defeat the American Madison Keys.
However, the future first racket of the world wanted more – she needed the title of US Open champion. Only for this it was necessary to defeat another US representative in front of her native audience, as well as a scattering of celebrities, including Maria Sharapova.
Arina was nervous, but she took the first set
Sabalenka’s opponent in the final was Cori Gauff, a young American who has been compared to Serena Williams. The 19-year-old tennis player had not yet won a Grand Slam tournament, so her motivation was heading into space. However, like Arina. Experts had a hard time predicting the favorite. On the one hand, Sabalenka is already actually the first racket of the world, regardless of the result of the US Open final, but Gauff was in very good shape at this tournament. Sabalenka has already secured leadership in the rankings and literally defeated all her rivals in a row until the semi-finals. Gauff also had a very strong tournament and looked capable of beating any opponent. Women’s tennis is already full of surprises, but here everything was completely confusing and incomprehensible.
Sabalenka immediately took Gauff’s serve, and then almost immediately returned hers – 2:2. At the same time, Arina was clearly nervous and made unforced errors. The American public also did not behave very well, rejoicing at every failure of the Belarusian tennis player. Spectators in the USA were especially happy when Sabalenka made double faults, but this is considered a sign of bad taste in tennis.
However, this was not something personal once morest Arina. The Americans cheered in exactly the same way once morest Novak Djokovic in his confrontation with local guy Ben Shelton. The desire to support compatriots is understandable and normal, but sometimes at the US Open it went beyond the bounds of decency. Meanwhile, Sabalenka, following her own serve, once more took someone else’s. And this time she didn’t lose her advantage, confidently bringing the first set to victory – 6:2. The Belarusian spent only 39 minutes on this.
Photo: © Matthew Stockman / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
America rejoices as Sabalenka storms to the top
Of course, it was naive to think that this would all end. Gauff didn’t even think regarding giving up. Moreover, in the lost set there was a fight in every rally, and everything might have turned in the other direction. The important moment of the second game was the first game, where Sabalenka had two break points. If Arina had taken the American’s serve, the chances of a final victory would have increased significantly.
And so Cory pulled out that game and played much more cheerfully, clearly having caught the courage. The American woman screamed loudly several times with joy. In addition, the Belarusian began to panic once more. On a break point, Sabalenka managed to make a double fault once morest her opponent – 1:3. Arina had a chance to make a reverse break, but Gauff held serve and led with a score of 4:1. Then the American, not without difficulty, maintained her advantage and evened the score in sets.
Photo: © Clive Brunskill / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
The fate of the US Open women’s singles trophy was decided in the third game. Gauff, admittedly, played incredibly consistently, while Sabalenka, on the contrary, was nervous and might not get her act together. The American was leading with a score of 4:0, and there was a feeling that everything might end in a “steering wheel” in the third set. To Arina’s credit, she tried to return to the game and even took two games – 2:4. But, unfortunately, there was no comeback. Sabalenka failed to change the course of the meeting, and Gauff calmly brought it to victory – 6:2 and 2:1 in sets.
The American won a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time in her career. But Arina, despite the defeat, will officially become the first racket of the world.
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