Aryna Sabalenka poses with the trophy© AFP
Aryna Sabalenka thrust herself into US Open title contention on Monday with a 6-3, 7-5 defeat of Jessica Pegula to win the ATP/WTA Cincinnati Open. The third seed who missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury won a trophy for the first time since collecting her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January. Sabalenka had it all her way against the American sixth seed until the closing stages when she lost serve for the first time leading a set and 5-4. But a quick re-break and another hold of serve solved that problem and produced a first Masters-level trophy on hardcourt since 2021 for the Belarus player.
"I really couldn't have wished for more -- it was a really great day at the office," Sabalenka said afterwards.
"Just super happy with the level I played in the final and I was able to get this title. It's really important going into the US Open."
Sabalenka -- beaten in last year's US Open final -- has now defeated Pegula, champion last week in Toronto, in five of seven matches.
The winner will move to second in the world in the WTA rankings and has emerged as a serious contender when the Open begins in New York next Monday.
"I'm sure Jess and I will have more battles in the future," Sabalenka said. "Let's keep it up."
The win marked Sabalenka's sixth WTA 1000 title and the 15th of her career.
She fired 10 aces and broke three times in the 1hr 15min success.
Pegula had been hoping for a trophy double after winning Montreal last week.
"The last few weeks have been crazy, I'd put together quite a streak. But hopefully the team and I can keep going forward," the American said.
"Unfortunately, too good from Aryna today. She was playing at a really high level, and it didn't seem to come down.
"I had some chances at the end, but wasn't able to do it. But I'm really proud of myself for the last couple weeks for the level I've been able to display, playing a lot of matches.
"I've proved to myself that I can win a lot of matches in a row and be able to handle a lot of different challenges."
The final was the first at Cincinnati between two top-10 opponents since Garbine Muguruza defeated Simona Halep here in 2017.
Sabalenka wasted no time in establishing superiority with her break of Pegula for 3-1 in the first set, a margin which she kept throughout the 30-minute opener.
The third seed began the second set with an immediate break of Pegula and served up four games to love.
But the seed was undone while serving for victory leading 5-4. Sabalenka was broken for the first time in the match as her sixth-seeded opponent made a late stand.
But Sabalenka broke straight back for a 6-5 lead and polished off the win on her first match point.