Rejuvenated Sabalenka ready for US Open bid

Aryna Sabalenka, whose 2024 season opened in triumph at the Australian Open only for heartache and injury to intervene, has found renewed joy as she aims to close the year on a high at the US Open.

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The 26-year-old from Belarus, who missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, won her first title since the Australian Open in January in Cincinnati last week.

She posted a confidence-building victory over world No 1 Iga Swiatek, and played with the hard-won enjoyment that comes from a better balance in her life.

"This joy came with the experience and with the understanding of a lot of stuff," Sabalenka said on Friday as she prepared for the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the season that starts on Monday at Flushing Meadows.

"Because before, I was probably too much into tennis and trying to be too focused, like, putting myself under so much pressure.

"Lately, I just realised that this is not how things work. You have to balance this hard work, these expectations, pressure, and everything, with a little joy.

"You have to find things which brings you joy, and I have my crazy team and we have so much fun together."

Sabalenka's year took a difficult turn with the death of her former boyfriend Konstantin Koltsov in March.

With hindsight, Sabalenka said, she would have probably benefitted from taking some time off, rather than sticking to her planned schedule.

"I definitely think that I should have just stopped and just kind of, like, separate myself from tennis, just have this little break and recharge and kind of start things over again," she said.

"I think I kind of overplayed, and I carried a lot. At the end, it just hit me with the injury, and also, I was sick, I was injured. I had stomach issue at the French Open.

"Health-wise I was struggling a lot."

The enforced rest necessitated by her shoulder injury was, in fact, just what she needed, Sabalenka said.

"Not like I'm happy to get injured, but I'm happy that I had this time off and this kind of time to reset my mind," she said.

The benefits were clear in Cincinnati, where she held on through nine wasted match points to defeat Swiatek in the semifinals.

It was ideal preparation as she tries to improve on her runner-up finish to Coco Gauff in last year's US Open final.

"I definitely felt really good after Cincinnati title. It was very important for me to get that title and to get those wins," said Sabalenka, the second seed in New York who will open her campaign against Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon.

"The first two tournaments (back) were tricky with the shoulder. But I'm really happy that in Cincinnati things clicked for me, and I trust the hard work we did. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to get injured again."