Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka took the ATP and WTA 1000 titles in Cincinnati on Monday, cementing their place among the frontrunners for the US Open, whose main draw begins August 26.
Both the Italian world No. 1 and the Belarusian world No. 2 beat Americans in their respective finals, disappointing the home crowds in Ohio. Sinner overcame an initially spirited performance from Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-2, while Sabalenka beat Jessica Pegula — who won last week’s Canadian Open in Toronto — 6-3, 7-5.
Tiafoe, reinstalled in the top 20 after his run to the Cincinnati final and the semifinals in Washington two weeks ago, had two break points in the opening game, as Sinner double-faulted and looked nervy and disconnected from the ball. But the Italian held, and the rest of the set flew by in a flurry of short rallies, exacerbated by the fast courts in Cincinnati. At *5-6 30-30 on Tiafoe’s serve, Sinner came out from one of the longest rallies of the match with a set point, before pushing a second serve return long to gift Tiafoe a route into a tiebreak.
Two forehands of too much quality were enough in the tiebreak, and Sinner raced through the second set. Tiafoe called the physio to the court for shoulder pain at *1-4 as he wilted in the disappointment of losing such a close first set. He mustered some fight to save three championship points after being broken for *1-5, but Sinner closed out the match to win his fourth title of the season.
“It was a very tough week … Very tough mentally,” Sinner said.
“We were both quite tired from yesterday, we felt a lot of tension, but I’m very glad with the level I played today, especially in the important moments.”
The American recovered some of his best form in Cincinnati despite defeat in the final (Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Sabalenka’s win was her first title since the Australian Open in January, in a turbulent year for the Belarusian. Konstantin Kolstov, the ex-NHL player and her former partner, died in March this year; she withdrew from Wimbledon — where she was considered a favorite — and from the Olympics with a shoulder injury.
Against Pegula, she was dominant, seeing off a late flurry from the world No. 6. Pegula broke Sabalenka as she served for the match. Still, Sabalenka immediately broke back to move up *6-5, and, like Sinner, served out comfortably, having cruised through the first set.
Sabalenka now has a 5-2 record against Pegula (Frey/TPN/Getty Images)
“I want to thank my team. We’ve been through a lot but we never stopped working, never stopped improving ourselves and I’m really happy to have you by my side,” Sabalenka said on court.
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Pegula had been attempting to become the first woman to win the Canadian Open and Cincinnati Open double since Evonne Goolagong Cawley, but looked flat for large portions of the match, having spent over two hours longer on court than her opponent en route to the final.
Sabalenka, who won the title without dropping a set, will hope to press home her hard-court form in New York, with the top of the women’s draw variously open in terms of form and injury. Defending champion Coco Gauff is on a rough run, with Iga Swiatek coming off the Olympics and world No. 4 Elena Rybakina struggling for consistent match fitness.
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(Top photos: Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
