Arina Sabaljenka is the number one in women's tennis and as such, she should not have allowed the year to end without a Grand Slam title.
After disappointing defeats and tears in the finals at the Australian Open (to Madison Keys) and Roland Garros (Coco Gauff was better), and elimination in the semifinals of Wimbledon, the Belarusian showed her power in the battle for the trophy at the US Open.
She defeated Amanda Anisimova and won the trophy in New York for the second year in a row - she won 6:3, 7:6 (7:3).
It was a rematch of the semi-final on London grass, and the first set was marked by breaks - five of them were seen.
Sabalyanka took a 2:0 lead, then allowed Anisimova to make two breaks, but the final blow in the first half of the game was delivered by the bomber from Minsk.
The second half of the game offered everything expected from the final.
The Sabalian broke her rival's serve for 2:1, the American fought back when she tied the game at 3:3, but in the next game she allowed another break to the favorite.
Sabaljenko served for the title a few minutes later when she was leading 5:4, but she gave in under pressure and allowed her opponent to get back into the match.
It came down to a tie-break, and everything was clear as day - Sabalenka lost only three points and reached her fourth Grand Slam title.
Anisimova was thus defeated in her second Grand Slam final in a row, as she lost to Iga Sfiontek at Wimbledon in a historic 6:0, 6:0.
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