Sinner and Sabalenka Warm Up in Cincinnati Ahead of the US Open

CINCINNATI, SATURDAY — In the lead-up to the final Grand Slam, the US Open, all the top tennis players in the world are warming up at the ATP/WTA Cincinnati. Among them are the defending champions, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka.

Sinner and Sabalenka are not only the defending champions of the tournament in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, which is classified as ATP Masters 1000 (for men) and WTA 1000 (for women). They are also the champions of the 2024 US Open.

The two world number one tennis players competed in Cincinnati after missing the ATP/WTA 1000 Canada, from July 27 to August 7. The tournament, which also serves as a warm-up for the US Open, was won by Victoria Mboko in the women's singles and Ben Shelton in the men's singles.

Unlike the tournament in Cincinnati, several top tennis players did not compete in Canada. Among them are Sinner, Sabalenka, and Carlos Alcaraz. Former world number one, Novak Djokovic, will even make his appearance directly at the US Open after Wimbledon.

Sinner and Sabalenka are competing in Cincinnati after their last appearance on the grass courts of Wimbledon with different outcomes. Sabalenka was eliminated in the semifinals despite being the favorite to win. Meanwhile, Sinner emerged as the champion, making him a player with four Grand Slam titles. Now, they return to the hard court competition in the United States as preparation for the US Open, scheduled from August 24 to September 7.

After receiving a bye in the first round, as one of the top seeds, Sinner put in a solid performance in the second round. He played for 59 minutes to defeat Daniel Elahi 6-1, 6-1. Sinner won 57 of the 84 points contested (68 percent) while Elahi only managed 27 points (32 percent). The Italian hit 17 winners and only four unforced errors.

Although he has only lost three times out of 29 matches this year, Sinner does not have high expectations for his first match in Cincinnati. "I don't even know what to expect because the match earlier was actually not easy. The ball was floating, making it difficult to control. The serve also needs to be very accurate. There are still many factors that need to be improved," said Sinner, who will face Gabriel Diallo in the third round.

As the top seed, Sinner is in the upper half of the draw alongside Taylor Fritz, Holger Rune, and Cincinnati Masters 2024 finalist, Frances Tiafoe. They also secured tickets to the third round with straight-set victories. Meanwhile, Alcaraz, who is the second seed, will begin his appearance on Sunday local time against Damir Zhumhur in the second round.

Joao Fonseca, an 18-year-old Brazilian tennis player, also advanced to the third round thanks to his efforts to persevere while performing poorly against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. Fonseca ultimately won 6-7 (4), 5-4 after Fokina withdrew due to injury.

Although he achieved victory due to his opponent's withdrawal, Fonseca demonstrated his effort to persevere. The final score was recorded after he was trailing 0-4 in the second set.

"When playing poorly, I must find a solution. I did this after gaining a lot of experience from other matches, and the match earlier will serve as a valuable lesson for the future," said Fonseca. His opponent in the third round is the qualifier, Terence Atmane.

In the women's singles, Sabalenka had to play for 54 minutes just to secure the first set. She faced a tough challenge from Marketa Vondrousova before eventually playing more comfortably in the second set. Sabalenka won 7-5, 6-1 to face Emma Raducanu in the third round.

"The match against Marketa is always difficult. She always pushes me to my limits, and I have to fight for every point. Losing focus even slightly can cause me to lose a set," said Sabalenka.

The comment was supported by statistics from the meetings between the two Grand Slam champions. In the eight encounters prior to the WTA Cincinnati, Sabalenka and Vondrousova each secured four victories. Sabalenka, in fact, lost in the last two meetings that took place in the quarterfinals of the WTA Stuttgart 2024 and the semifinals of the WTA Berlin 2025.

The heavy competitors of Sabalenka in the top half of the draw also won their second-round matches in different ways. Iga Swiatek triumphed 6-1, 6-4 over Anastasia Potapova. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina and Madison Keys had to play three sets. Rybakina defeated Renata Zarazua 4-6, 6-0, 7-5, while Keys won against Eva Lys 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1). (AFP)