Done and done. Both were more than ready when the toughest matches arrived. Sinner wasn’t even the favorite among the men, but he took on the “role” when, at the end of the third round, both Nole and Carlitos were already eliminated. He got a draw that wasn’t exactly easy and passed through with flying colors. Tommy Paul, Daniil Medvedev, Jack Draper, and finally, Taylor Fritz. He imposed his baseline game with power and precision. He didn’t face any real scares.
Sabalenka was already the favorite among the bookmakers when the tournament began. She lost a set to Alexandrova, but even in that match, she wasn’t really tested. Up to the semifinals, she had not dropped more than nine games in a match. She easily passed by Qinwen Zheng, defeated Emma Navarro with a brilliant tie-break in the second set, and overcame Jessica Pegula in two sets.
Neither the home crowd nor a drop in performance in the middle of the second set was enough to knock Aryna down. Pegula even served to force a third set, but Sabalenka shut the door on her, just like Sinner closed the door on Fritz, who served to win the third set. The Belarusian and the Italian absorbed the pressure, silenced the American crowd, and shone when they needed it most.
Two expected and well-deserved titles. Two tennis players who began the year lifting trophies in Melbourne and now, in New York, repeat the scene. Two athletes whose personalities couldn’t be more different, but who showed they knew how to manage the circumstances and create environments that allowed them to play their best tennis on their preferred surface. Just applause.
Things I think I think:
– Just to not forget: both were also champions at the Cincinnati 1000, shortly before the US Open. Both defeated Americans in the finals there as well (Pegula and Tiafoe). And both surnames start with the same letter (inevitably mentioning this small coincidence).