Sabalenka Has A Point To Prove

World No. 1 gears up for hostile crowd in third bid for Grand Slam title this year

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NEW YORK - World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka will brace herself for a partisan crowd in the US Open final for a third year in a row on Sept 6, as she stands across the net from American Amanda Anisimova in the final match of her title defence.

The Belarusian recovered from a set down to get past American fourth seed Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in her semi-final, as she bids to become the first woman to win back-to-back US Open titles since Serena Williams in 2014.

She will take to the court on Sept 6 with the fans squarely in her opponent's favour, after eighth seed Anisimova downed four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka in another three-set thriller - 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-3), 6-3.

"I played a lot of matches against American women in America and probably learnt how to deal with it with experience," Sabalenka said.

The home crowd reached a fever pitch in the 2023 final as local favourite Coco Gauff battled past Sabalenka, with the Belarusian later jokingly calling out fans at Arthur Ashe Stadium for their lack of support.