How history is helping Sabalenka: “All those defeats gave me hope”

Aryna Sabalenka has had more than her fair share of painful semi-final defeats in her career. In 2021 and 2022 she reached the semi-finals of the US Open; last year she won the first set against Iga Swiatek but lost in three, while in 2021 she forced a third set against Leylah Fernandez but fell to defeat.

This time round, the incoming world No 1 has reached her first-ever final in Flushing Meadows, after losing the first set of her semi-final against Madison Keys 6-0, and then falling behind 5-3 in the second. She turned it round to win two subsequent tiebreak sets and secure her place in Saturday’s showpiece.

“I was all over the place,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I was just, like, what can I do? Like, she’s playing unbelievable, just, like, crushing everything. I’m not able to do anything, like, I had zero control in the match. I was just, like, I was just keep telling myself, I mean, okay, there is going to be this like this? Somebody going to just play their best tennis?

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“You just have to keep trying, keep staying there, and keep pushing it. Maybe you’ll be able to turn around this game.

“Lucky me, somehow magically, I don’t know how I was able to turn around this game.”

Sabalenka: I lost a lot of tough matches

And what kept her going was the thought of those close matches – those defeats – from earlier in her career.

“I was keep reminding myself that I lost a lot of tough matches. I mean, one day all those matches should just, like, help me somehow.

“This kind of thinking help me to stay in the game and give me some hope that I’ll be able to turn around this match that, the match is not over until the last point and that I just have to keep fighting, keep trying to find my rhythm, my game, just find myself.”

She was thinking particularly of last year’s second-round match against Kaia Kanepi, when she was 6-2, 5-1 down but won 2-6, 7-6 (8), 6-4, saving two match points.

“I think about comebacks. Last year I had incredible comeback from 1-5 against Kanepi. But all of those comebacks are different. This one definitely was one of the best ones,” she smiled.

“I’m really proud that I was able to turn around this match.”

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