Aryna Sabalenka wins first title since Australian Open, beating Jessica Pegula at Cincinnati

MASON, Ohio (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka won her first title since the Australian Open in January, beating Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 in the Cincinnati Open on Monday.

Sabalenka, who moved up a spot to No. 2 in the rankings before the match, didn’t lose a set en route to her 15th WTA title. She had never gotten past the semifinals at Cincinnati, losing three times in that round.

The 26-year-old Sabalenka can now be considered a favorite at the U.S. Open, which begins on Aug. 26 in New York. The Belarusian missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, then returned to the tour at Washington two weeks ago.

In the men’s final, top-ranked Jannik Sinner was set to face Frances Tiafoe on Monday night.

Against Pegula, Sabalenka took 17 minutes to build a 4-1 lead in the first set.

Pegula, who double-faulted five times, broke serve for the first time to tie the second set at 5-all, but Sabalenka won the next two games to finish off the 1-hour, 14-minute match.

The sixth-ranked Pegula had a challenging road to the final. After defending her title at Toronto, the American played two matches on Friday because of weather-related postponements and had three matches go three sets. Her time on the court exceeded Sabalenka’s by more than two hours entering the final.

Sabalenka joined top-ranked Iga Swiatek as the only players with 10 or more WTA titles since 2020. She beat Swiatek in the Cincinnati semis.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis