Going up against an American player in a late-stage match at the U.S. Open is always a challenge. It’s one Aryna Sabalenka, the world No. 2 tennis player from Belarus, knows all too well.
A year ago, against Coco Gauff in the U.S. Open final, the raucous pro-Gauff crowd in New York City got in Sabalenka’s head. The noise, she said before today’s final against another American, No. 6 ranked-Jessica Pegula, “was blocking my ears. So that was, like, so much pressure.”
This time around, rather than let the support for Pegula irk her, she tried embracing her status as a spoiler. With a tight-tense first set, for example, tied at 5-5, Sabalenka turned the tables, pumping her arms in the air after winning a point, as if to say, “Hey, all you suppos…