Iga Swiatek has carried the torch as world No.1 on the ladies’s tour for greater than a 12 months however the drained defending US Open champion faces a serious menace to her place with Aryna Sabalenka poised to pounce.
Swiatek has had a vice-like grip on high spot since inheriting it after Ash Barty’s retirement in March 2022, however Australian Open champion Sabalenka has steadily chipped away on the deficit and might leapfrog her rival by profitable in New York.
Swiatek has not been overwhelmed earlier than the quarter-finals of a match since January however the 22-year-old Pole has working out of steam forward of the 12 months’s remaining grand slam.
“I would say my tank of fuel is pretty empty,” she mentioned after going out within the semi-finals at current occasions in Montreal and Cincinnati.
“I’m happy I’m going to have days off.”
The French Open champion mentioned she would attempt to not be exhausting on herself forward of her US Open title defence.
“Being a defending champion isn’t easy,” Swiatek mentioned.
“I’m going to take it easy on myself and just try to do everything step by step.”
Despite needing to recharge and refocus, Swiatek will nonetheless be closely backed to retain her crown and safe her fifth grand slam title however Belarus’s Sabalenka underlined her personal hard-court credentials together with her breakthrough win in Melbourne.
She adopted that up by making the semi-finals on the French Open and Wimbledon, the place she may have taken the No.1 rating for the primary time.
Sabalenka additionally loved success within the US earlier within the 12 months with a run to the Indian Wells remaining the place she crashed to fellow big-hitter Elena Rybakina, one other high Flushing Meadows contender regardless of current well being and health worries.
The trio have received 5 of the previous six grand slams, sparking discuss of a ‘large three’ period in girls’s tennis however a number of different threats have emerged for the US Open crown in the previous couple of weeks.
Marketa Vondrousova heads that listing after the previous Roland Garros runner-up broke her grand slam duck at Wimbledon, whereas Jessica Pegula and fellow American Coco Gauff are primed for deep runs after triumphs in Montreal and Cincinnati respectively.
“I believe in just giving it your all,” mentioned former French Open runner-up Gauff, who beat Swiatek en path to profitable her first WTA 1000 title.
“That’s all you can do. I’m going to give it my all in the US Open. If things go great, that’s exciting. If not, I go back and work hard and get ready for the next one.”
World No.3 Pegula has raised US hopes of a primary home-grown Flushing Meadows champion since Sloane Stephens in 2017 after she beat Swiatek in Montreal.
Ons Jabeur will hope to beat a foot drawback she suffered final week as she continues her quest for a primary grand slam singles crown.
The Tunisian trailblazer misplaced within the 2022 US Open remaining and has been runner-up at Wimbledon for the final two years.
Former world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki, twice a overwhelmed finalist at Flushing Meadows, is a kind of to be awarded wildcards for the match.
The Dane returned to aggressive tennis earlier this month after greater than three years away to begin a household.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
