Aryna Sabalenka Admits She’s Ready to Defend Both Titles At Cincinnati and the US Open After a Mini Break from Tour

Aryna Sabalenka to begin her Cincinnati Open title defense against former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova.

Aryna Sabalenka Admits She’s Ready to Defend Both Titles At Cincinnati and the US Open After a Mini Break from Tour

Aryna Sabalenka (via X/Ground Press)

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Following a well-deserved break from tour, Aryna Sabalenka will kick off her North American hard-court campaign in Ohio. The three-time Grand Slam champion is now set to defend titles at the Canadian Open and US Open, at the back of a semi-final run at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships.

Sabalenka was in sublime form this time last season, winning 15 consecutive matches on tour, which saw her claim the WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati and the US Open. However, this season, the World No.1 has been unable to defend her 2024 titles. She was supposed to defend the Australian Open title in January, but lost the crown to Madison Keys in the final.

She then reached the final of the French Open and was seeking to win her first Grand Slam away from the hard courts, but yet again she fell to another American star, Coco Gauff, in three sets in the final. She continued her push for her first Grand Slam of the season at the Wimbledon Championships, however, that ended in the semi-finals after her loss to Amanda Anisimova.

She was among the first WTA players to withdraw from the Canadian Open, stressing that she needed to recover from the hectic WTA schedule. The Belarusian star used her time off to travel to the Greek island of Mykonos with boyfriend Georgios Frangulis. Now back to the tour in Cincinnati, she’s eager to win again.

During her press conference in Ohio, she revealed that she feels replenished after her mini break from the tour. She added she loves being under pressure as defending champion and aims to reach her peak at the US Open:

Now I’m fresh and ready. We’re just trying to manage the energy a bit better, because the schedule is really intense. It’s a really important part of the season. The US Open has always been my favorite Slam. I’m the defending champion, and I love being in this position. I really hope those lessons I learned in the previous Slams are going to help me. I really hope I’m going to get to my peak in the US Open.

Nonetheless, Sabalenka is clear at the top of the WTA rankings, leading the World No.2 Gauff by almost 5,000 points, but she has not won a Grand Slam title since lifting the 2024 US Open. Any major point drop from the Cincinnati Open will be a blow to her aim of ending the year as World No.1.

Aryna Sabalenka says the WTA schedule is exhausting after revealing the reason for taking a break

Since the start of the North American hard-court swing, one major discussion has been the hectic schedule on tour. Both the men’s and women’s singles players have made the same call for the schedule to be reduced. Aryna Sabalenka echoed the same issue during the aforementioned press conference.

Aryna Sabalenka
Aryna Sabalenka (Image via X/Roland Garros)

The Madrid Open champion revealed that the main reason for her skipping the Canadian Open was because of the exhausting WTA schedule. She also added that she has a lot of points to defend in the coming weeks and months:

The tennis season is long and exhausting and I will have to defend a lot of points in the coming weeks. I will be called upon to defend the title in New York and I will have additional pressure, but I am ready to face this challenge. I hope that all the lessons I have learned in the last Slams will help me to give my best.

After the Cincinnati Open and US Open, Sabalenka will look to defend the Wuhan Open title in October. However, at Cincinnati, she’s set to face a tough test beginning from her opening match against former Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round, and a potential clash with Emma Raducanu next, a rematch of the Wimbledon third round.