Sinner, Sabalenka head to US Open as Cincinnati champs

CINCINNATI, Ohio — World No 1 Jannik Sinner lifted his third ATP Masters trophy on Monday, as the Italian ace beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4), 6-2 to win the Cincinnati Open.

Women's No 2 Aryna Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 for her first title since the Australian Open in January.

The Italian top seed warmed up for next week's US Open in style, biding his time in a hard-fought first set, before breaking the match open in the second.

Tiafoe, whose game faded after losing a first-set tiebreaker, still made an impression.

The American, who moves into the top-20, saved three match points before Sinner claimed his 15th career title.

Cincinnati is the fifth trophy of 2024 for the 23-year-old Italian, who began the season with the Australian Open crown in Melbourne.

"I'm happy, this was a very difficult week," Sinner said.

"It was tough mentally, but I tried to do my best.

"Frances and I were both tired from the (Sunday) semifinals and there was a lot of tension.

"I'm just glad I kept my level in the important moments. I handled the situations on court well.

"There were many ups and downs, but that's normal. At the big moments of each match I played well."

Sinner heads to the US Open, which starts on Aug 26, as a major favorite, standing more than 2,000 points clear of world No 2 Novak Djokovic.

"I'm confident, but it's important to be able to recover to be ready for New York," the Italian said after his Cincinnati win.

"That is the main goal of this US Open swing. I'm happy to be in the position I'm in. I have the hunger to keep playing. I hope to show some good tennis in New York."

Against Tiafoe, Sinner hit 29 winners, including 13 aces and broke the American twice from eight attempts.

"I'm really tired," Tiafoe told Sinner at the net afterwards.

"I'm not used to playing so many matches like you big guys. Well played."

The pair dueled for nearly an hour in the opening set, with the Italian making 10 aces on the way into a tiebreaker.

One crack in Tiafoe's defense was enough to hand Sinner two set-point chances, with the first converted by the top seed for the early lead.

Tiafoe dropped serve to start the second, as his reserves began to run dry. Sinner achieved a double break in a fifth game lasting for more than 10 minutes with seven deuces.

With a 4-1 lead, the Italian still had to fight, with Tiafoe saving three match points to climb to 5-2 before the top seed completed his work a game later.

Sinner is the youngest champion at the event since Andy Murray in 2008.

Sabalenka denies Pegula

Belarusian Sabalenka thrust herself into US Open title contention on Monday with a defeat of American Pegula.

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 5-4.

But, a quick re-break and another hold of serve solved that problem and produced a first Masters-level hardcourt trophy since 2021 for the Belarusian.

"I really couldn't have wished for more — it was a really great day at the office," Sabalenka said afterwards.

"I'm just super happy with the level I played in the final, and that 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 at last week's Canadian Open in Toronto, in five of seven matches.

As a result, Sabalenka will move to second in the world in the WTA rankings, and has emerged as a serious contender when the US 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 1 hr, 15 min success.

Pegula had been hoping for a trophy double after her Toronto win.

"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, it was 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 of 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 in 2017.

AFP