New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
Sabalenka wins Conn. Open to claim her first WTA title
Belarus native tops Suarez Navarro to collect first career WTA Tour title
NEW HAVEN — A decade ago, an 18-year-old phenom won what was then known as the Pilot Pen, jump-starting a terrific career that at one point had her ranked No. 1 in the world.
That player was Caroline Wozniacki.
On Saturday afternoon at the Connecticut Open, another star was born.
Aryna Sabalenka won her first career WTA title, topping a feisty Carla Suarez Navarro, 6-1, 6-4, at the Connecticut Tennis Center. Sabalenka, 20, became the event’s youngest champion since a 20year-old Wozniacki won the third of her four New Haven titles in 2010.
“I’m so happy to win my first title,” the native of Belarus said. “This is a great feeling. For a second, you’re so happy. Then you’re like, ‘Well, I have to work more, because next year, I have to do it again.’ ”
Chances are, Sabalenka will be doing a lot more winning over the next decade or so. A 5-foot-11 physical specimen with a booming serve, she seems poised for stardom. And like Wozniacki and current world No. 1 Simona Halep, who both won their first WTA premier events in New Haven, this tournament could be
the springboard for her success.
“I don’t know,” she said. “I will just work more and try to keep going, keep showing my best tennis, and we will see.”
Sabalenka may not be ready to predict her own future stardom, but she’s made a believer out of her opponent.
“She has a lot of power, she plays fast, she knows how to play, how to serve, she returns well,” said Suarez Navarro. “She’s a really complete player. She’s young. So, with more experience, she will be a really difficult player, for sure. I think she will have a lot of success in the future.”
Sabalenka, ranked No. 25 in the world, had a tough road to the finals, beating an impressive list of players — Samantha Stosur, defending champ Daria Gavrilova, Belinda Bencic, world No. 5 Julia Goerges and Suarez Navarro, dropping just one set along the way.
En route to a spot in the semifinals the prior week in Cincinnati, Sabalenka saved match points to upset No. 9 Kristyna Pliskova and No. 5 Caroline Garcia, then beat No. 13 Madison Keys in the quarterfinals.
“It’s always great to beat a top player, but it actually doesn’t matter — top player, not top player,
anybody can play and anybody can win,” she noted. “Every match is important.”
This was Sabalenka’s third trip to a WTA singles final this season. She is the first Belarusian to win the event.
For Suarez Navarro, it put an end to what had been a remarkably easy — and fortunate — road to the final. The Spaniard only had to win three sets in her first four matches, thanks to a withdrawal (Jo Konta) and a pair of mid-match retirements (Petra Kvitova, Monica Puig).
“Sometimes, you lose because you play bad. But today, I don’t think so,” Suarez Navarro said. “I think she played a really good match. I was there, but it wasn’t enough today.”
Sabalenka won the first five games as Suarez Navarro struggled with her serve. When Sabalenka broke Suarez Navarro’s serve to go up 4-3 in the second set, it looked like a wrap. But Suarez Navarro countered right back with a break of her own.
The ninth game was epic, with five deuces, but Sabalenka won to break her opponent once again, then clinched the match the following game.
“She started really, really well,” Suarez Navarro noted. “She played amazing today. The second set was different, but she played good, relaxed and every ball was
on the point that she wanted. I tried to change the situation in the second set. I was close. The game at 5-4 — I think I didn’t play bad, but she was better than me today.”
Sabalenka said she will likely give her trophy to her grandmother who is “like a mom. So, I have two moms.”
Both players move on to this week’s U.S. Open, where Sabalenka will play out of the main draw for the first time.
“It helps me a lot, of course. There’s no pressure on me. I believe in myself even more,” she said. “This U.S. Open, there will be no pressure on me.”
Perhaps not. But now, the floodgates are opened to what could be a terrific career, and the pressure will be on for her to live up to the potential she showed with her first WTA title. All part of the plan?, she was asked.
“I didn’t have a plan,” Aryna Sabalenka responded. “I just wanted to keep going, keep fighting. Now, I’m 20 years old and I have my first title.”
NET NOTES: The week’s attendance was announced at 50,255, with the 5,025 announced for Saturday.