US Open is the last Grand Slam tournament of the year. The competition will start on Monday, but Igê ¦wi±tek we will see her on the court only the next day. In the first round, she will face Kamila Rakhimova. For the 23-year-old, this could be the beginning of the road to her second triumph in this event. She is certainly one of the main favorites. But is she the biggest one?
Bad news for Iga Świątek. Experts are betting on Sabalenka. “She can beat her”
The experts from the American ESPN have spoken out on this matter. All of them, as one, consider only two tennis players as potential winners – Iga Świątek and Aryna Sabalenka. – Many of the best players are either struggling with worse periods of form or are coming back after injuries. Of course, what makes Świątek's period worse is not winning three tournaments in a row (while winning 10 matches). But the direct loss to Sabalenka in the semifinals in Cincinnati made me think that Sabalenka is a player who can beat her – assessed journalist Bill Connelly.
Commentator Tom Hamilton was more unequivocal, completely omitting the Pole. – Sabalenka. It will be Sabalenka, who is fired up after her recent failures. She lost in the quarterfinals Roland Garros with Mirra Andreeva due to illness, then was forced to withdraw from Wimbledon due to a shoulder injury she sustained in Berlin, and later withdrew from the Olympic Games in Paris because she did not want to return to clay. Sabalenka will head full steam ahead to the hard courts, and after the Australian Open on the same surface this year, she will want to conquer New York, he said.
ESPN journalist directly about Iga Świątek. “She's almost unbeatable then”
Sabalenka's recent performance is particularly impressive. The Belarusian has overcome her health problems, won the tournament in Cincinnati and returned to second place in the WTA rankings. However, not everyone sees her as the winner of Świątek. “I agree that Sabalenka is the absolute favourite at the moment, but I'm betting on Świątek. Clearly disappointed with the bronze medal in Paris and probably motivated by the semi-final defeat to Sabalenka in Cincinnati, she will want to take revenge for the last few months and may win her sixth Grand Slam title in this way,” admitted journalist D'Arcy Maine.
The expert noted that Świątek has a rather difficult bracket, because in the Thursday round she can face Mirra Andreeva, in the quarterfinals Danielle Collins or Jessica Pegula, and in the semifinals her “nemesis” Jelena Ostapenko or Jelena Rybakina. Despite this, she believes in the strength Polish tennis players. – When Świątek is focused and completely concentrated, she is almost unbeatable. In 2022, she showed that she knows what to do to lift this trophy – he added.