Aryna Sabalenka admitted that she “overreacted” and didn’t put big expectations on herself going into Cincinnati but then realized that everything would be fine as long as she stayed calm and played her game.
After missing Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury, Sabalenka picked up a Washington semifinal loss to Marie Bouzkova in what was her first tournament in 40 days.
But after a shock Bouzkova loss and struggling in Washington, Sabalenka put up a very dominant run this past week to win her first Cincinnati title without a dropped set. En route to the main glory, Sabalenka impressively recorded straight-set wins over Iga Swiatek, Elina Svitolina and Jessica Pegula.
“I think I was really emotional in Washington and Toronto coming back after after injury. I was overreacting, and I just stepped back and realized that I played my great tennis when I was calm and confident, that no matter what’s what’s going on the court, I’ll be able to keep fighting and keep trying my best no matter what the score, what the situation is. And I just realized that I have to be that way. There is no, no other way for me if I want to, if I want to do well here and New York,” Sabalenka told WTA Insider.
Sabalenka wanted to test something in Cincinnati
In the same interview, Sabalenka shared that her mindset was to try to stay calm whatever happened on the court. And as mentioned above, the result could not have been any better as the 26-year-old Belarusian clinched a couple of really strong wins and ended up lifting her sixth WTA 1000 title.
Now, Sabalenka’s focus turns to the US Open, where she made her first final last year before home favorite Coco Gauff beat her in three sets.
Since Sabalenka overtook Gauff at No. 2 on this week’s updated rankings, she will be the second seed at the US Open.