Aryna Sabalenka put an end to Amanda Anisimova’s Cinderella story and won her first Grand Slam title this year.
The tennis world list defeated the local hero in the US Open final, who had lost the Wimbledon final without any game only 56 days earlier, in a duel with an open visor with 6: 3, 7: 6 (7: 3). For Sabalenka, it is the fourth Grand Slam triumph of her career after it failed this year in the Melbourne final (against Madison Keys) and Paris (against Coco Gauff).
The 24-year-old Anisimova also lost her second major final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, and on July 12th she had received a demoralizing 0: 6, 0: 6 against Polish IGA Swiatek in London in just 57 minutes. This time 1:34 hours passed before the match was decided. In the world rankings, Anisimova will nevertheless climb fourth in ninth to position and thus as high as never before.
The 27-year-old Sabalenka, on the other hand, cemented her leadership in the ranking through her 100th success in Grand Slam tournaments and confirmed her reputation as a hard court queen: the title defense in New York was recently successful in the big Serena Williams in 2014.
Sabalenka simply not to be beaten in the tie -break
Unlike in the Wimbledon final, when Anisimova had nothing to oppose, this time, she acted powerfully and risky from the first rally – and was able to dream of winning the first set after the break. Sabalenka, however, opened a number one in the style, while Anisimova’s risk charts ended up increasingly in the end or online. The first set was over after 39 minutes.
As a result, Anisimova initially struggled with the glaring light under the stadium roof closed due to rain, but never stuck and got the break to 5: 5. Ultimately, despite the vocal support of the spectators, she had to recognize the strength of her opponent, who won a tie -break for the 19th time in a row.
A two -set victory of Sabalenka did not seem to be a matter of course in advance, after all, Anisimova is the fear opponent of the Belarusin, she had won six of the previous nine duels, most recently in the semi -finals of Wimbledon.
Anisimova, born in New Jersey, had spoken of the “run of my life” in the preliminary round of the “Run of my life” after her successes about the former New York winners Swiatek in the quarter-finals and Naomi Osaka. But Sabalenka stopped her fairytale ascent at least temporarily.