New York | Sabalenka gets off the mark just short of midnight

World No 2 Aryna Sabalenka arrived in New York on a mission – to win the US Open title after 2 semi-final appearances and a runner-up showing last year, and she opened her campaign in convincing fashion, dominating Australian qualifier Priscilla Hon, 6-3 6-3, win to advance into the 2nd-round.

I was a little bit nervous in the beginning. Sloane was playing well. She was moving really well, and she was making it tough for me. I just kept fighting and I found a way. That was the turning point, when I decided to be more aggressive. I started to win more points. I’m very happy to be here and to win is just amazing. Clara Burel

After successfully defending her Australian Open title in January, the Belarusian is trying to become the first woman to win both hard-court majors in the same season since Angelique Kerber in 2016.

The 26-year-old missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, and won her first title since Melbourne in Cincinnati last week, posting a confidence-building win over World No 1 Iga Swiatek in the semi-finals.

“This joy came with the experience, and with the understanding, of a lot of stuff,” Sabalenka said on Friday. “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, and, with hindsight, said she probably would have benefitted from taking some time off, rather than sticking to her planned playing 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.

“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.

Coming off of that shoulder injury, Sabalenka has returned to her top form this summer, with a quarter-final appearance in Toronto, a semi-final run in Washington, DC, and a title in Cincinnati, which she won without dropping a set, and is a top favourite to win in New York.

Sabalenka and Hon took to the court at nearly 11 pm, and the No 2 seed made it a short night, taking care of business in an hour and 18 minutes to finish shortly after midnight, finishing with 27 winners to the Aussie’s 12.

In just her second career US Open main-draw appearance, though, 26-year-old Hon competed as if she had been on this stage for years, swinging freely and with assertive power under the lights of Louis Armstrong Stadium.

She put pressure on the 2nd seed, and matched her shot for shot, literally, as both women hit 5 winners and 7 unforced errors in the first set, but it was Sabalenka’s first-serve win percentage (91%) that gave her the edge to take the opening frame.

The World No 2 was simply outhitting her Australian opponent to build a 3-1 lead in the second, and despite Hon’s attempt to change the tempo of the rallies, a strategy that earned her a break of serve, Sabalenka answered by digging out of a 0-40 hole in back-to-back games to get ahead 5-2.

Hon made one final push to extend the match at 5-3, but Sabalenka managed to close it out to love and advance into the second round.

Sabalenka moves on to meet Lucia Bronzetti, after the Italian advanced when her opponent, Lulu Sun of New Zealand, retired at 6-3 down.

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Earlier in the evening, over on Arthur Ashe Stadium, France’s Clara Burel eliminated former champion Sloane Stephens, after losing the first 9 games of the first match of Opening Night of the 2024 US Open.

It was an amazing come-back to eliminate 2017 singles champion, 0-6 7-5 7-5, in 2 hours and 6 minutes.

Playing in front of a large crowd, which included Billie Jean King, Burel fell behind Stephens 6-0, 3-0 before getting on the scoreboard with a service break in the 10th game.

She began to find the range on her shots and, with an aggressive baseline game, she rallied to tie the set at 5-5, before holding serve for a 6-5 lead, and then breaking Stephens to even the match at a set all.

The American regained momentum in the third, and led for 5-4, but Burel broke serve twice in winning the final 3 games to seal the match.

“I was a little bit nervous in the beginning,” Burel admitted afterwards. “Sloane was playing well. She was moving really well, and she was making it tough for me. I just kept fighting and I found a way.

“That was the turning point, when I decided to be more aggressive. I started to win more points. I’m very happy to be here and to win is just amazing.”

Two-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka overcame Yulia Starodubtseva in 3 sets on Monday

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23-year old Burel, currently ranked No 56, moves into round 2, where she will meet 3-time US Open finalist Victoria Azarenka, after the 20th-seeded Belarusian defeated Ukrainian qualifier Yuliia Starodubtseva, 3-6 6-1 6-1.

Azarenka went from feeling overpowered, to feeling sick, to feeling angry to, eventually, overcoming a sluggish start on the Grandstand to find her way past Starodubtseva, who has won 3 rounds in qualifying at each of the 4 Grand Slams this year.

The Ukrainian reeled off the first 4 games of the match, and although Azarenka fought back to get the match on serve again at 3-4, Starodubtseva broke for a 3rd time, and served for the set at 5-3.

The World No 146 fought off a break point to pull out the set, and move one step closer to the biggest win in her career.

During the break, a peaky Azarenka had her blood pressure checked by the trainer at the chair.

On resumption, back-to-back double-faults, 2 of Azarenka’s 10 doubles in the match, gave Starodubtseva a break-point opportunity in the 3rd game of the second set, and the Belarusian threw her racket down in disgust.

Her anger proved a catalyst for a turn-around, and the Belarusian won the final 3 points of that game for 2-1, the next 4 games to win the set, and the final 6 games of the third after Starodubtseva held to begin the decider.

While her two Grand Slam victories have come on a different hard court, in Melbourne, Azarenka continues to add to her sterling record in Flushing Meadows, recording her 47th career win at the US Open in her 17th appearance in New York.

Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova took 90 minutes to get past qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera on Day 1 in New York

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Meanwhile, Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova, the 8th seed from the Czech Republic, earned her first hard-court win since February, defeating Spanish qualifier Marina Bassols Ribera, 7-6(3) 6-2 in just over 90 minutes.

Playing in her first hard-court tournament of the summer, the Czech will face Romanian qualifier Elena-Gabriela Ruse next, who was a 6-2 6-4 winner over Austria’s Julia Grabher.

Among other later Day 1 results, Spain’s Paula Badosa, the 16th seed, saw off Viktorijya Golubic from Switzerland, 6-0 6-3, and will take on Taylor Townsend in round 2 after the American defeated Martina Trevisan from Italy, 6-2 7-5; while Emma Navarro, the American 13th seed, cruised past Anna Blinkova from Russia, 6-1 6-1, and will meet Arantxa Rus from the Netherlands, who took out Romanian Ana Bogdan, 6-4 7-6(5); and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima got past Tamara Korpatch from Germany, 6-4 6-3 6-4, setting up a 2nd-round encounter with another, Jule Niemeier, who upset Ukraine’s Dayana Yastremska, 6-4 6-7 (3) 6-4.