'Not letting emotions win': Aryna Sabalenka holds nerve to defend US Open title

NEW YORK: Aryna Sabalenka has felt the weight of expectation, seen her trademark boldness waver, and watched her composure crack -- twice falling short in Grand Slam finals this year.

For the world No. 1, it’s been a season defined by hard lessons.Heading into the final major of the year, the Belarusian insisted she was stronger for the experience.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!On Saturday in the US Open final, the 27-year-old knew she was pitted as much against American Amanda Anisimova as against the loudest audience in tennis. With the roof shut tight over Arthur Ashe Stadium, the roar of the 25,000-strong crowd echoed even louder.When serving for the match with the score poised at 5-4, 30-all, Sabalenka was a fraction slow in getting to an overhead, giving her opponent breakpoint. The crowd, never missing a chance to cheer against her, erupted.
Just when it seemed 2025 would be a season of near-misses for the 27-year-old, she composed a deafening symphony in the tie-break.Sabalenka’s 6–3, 7–6 (3) win over Anisimova, marked by 15 unforced errors, earned her a fourth Grand Slam title, drawing her level with Naomi Osaka among active players.

The vivacious Belarusian, who has now reached six consecutive Grand Slam finals on hard courts, became the first player since Serena Williams, more than a decade ago, to win back-to-back titles at Flushing Meadows.In the Australian Open final in January she let the crowd get to her when going for a three-peat against the gusty Madison Keys. In the French capital four months later, Sabalenka threw shade on Coco Gauff’s victory in the immediate aftermath of the final, making it all about herself.

She did have 70 unforced errors in that match, but that was not the time to bring it up.Fingers pointed at Sabalenka -- the WTA’s most consistent performer in Grand Slams over the past three years, with three titles and three other finals -- as she increasingly came across as a player who believed she was owed.Sabalenka apologised first on Social Media and then in person to the 21-year-old Gauff, but the media refused to let it drop. She has been consistently quizzed about it since. In New York the third question after her semi-final win was: Have you thought yet about what you might say were you to win, were you not to win?“After the Australian Open, I thought that the right way would be just to forget it and move on, but then the same thing happened at the French Open,” the Belarusian said.

“I figured it's time for me to sit back and look at those finals and maybe learn something. I didn't want it to repeat.”Sabalenka was on a break in Mykonos with her boyfriend Georgios Frangulis when she started asking herself questions.“It felt like I thought if I made it to the final, it means that I'm going to win it, and I sort of didn't expect players to come out there and fight,” she said. “I thought that everything was going to come my way easily, which is a completely wrong mindset.”“Going into this final I decided that I was going to control my emotions. I'm not going to let them take control over me, irrespective of what happens in the match. If she breaks me back or if she plays incredible tennis,” she said. “It's a final, she's going to be fighting, especially after the Wimbledon final (where Anisimova lost 0-6, 0-6), she would love to have a better result.”“In the first set when she broke me (third and fifth games) and then at the end of the second set when she broke me (tenth game) those were two moments where I was really close to losing control, but I told myself, it's not going to happen, it's absolutely okay.

That's what you expect in the final.”Sabalenka credited her turnaround to a memoir, Into the Magic Shop, by Dr. James Doty, which she read during her break in Greece.“While reading that book I realized a lot of things,” she said. “It helped me focus on the right things.”When Sabalenka is calm, she’s nearly unplayable, a worrying prospect for the rest of the field.

Comeback star Anisimova rises despite loss

Amanda Anisimova may have fallen short in her second straight Grand Slam final, but she leaves with the crown of the season’s comeback star.The 24-year-old world No.9, who lost to Aryna Sabalenka in the US Open title match, has been the story of the summer. Anisimova, who was at the receiving end of a bruising double bagel in the Wimbledon final, hit back with a powerful run at Flushing Meadows. During the trophy ceremony, the 24-year-old said she hadn’t fought hard enough for her dreams in the final.“I just felt like throughout the match I wasn't playing my best tennis,” said Anisimova, who had 29 unforced errors in the match, almost twice that of her opponent.

“I feel like with finals I have a lot of nerves, and it's something I'm trying to work on, but I just wish I played more aggressively. Of course, she was playing amazing. She was playing very aggressively and doing all the right things.”“I didn't win today, so of course I didn't do enough. That's just the reality, I have to accept that,” the American said. “I feel like if I fought harder, I would have given myself more of a chance, but I was really kind of in the back seat.”“I felt rushed, and it was really hard to have any momentum or rhythm,” said Anisimova, who moves up to No.4 in the rankings on Monday. “I was trying to stay in the match and figure out a way of how I can make it more difficult for her, but the rallies weren't long at all.”