MASON, Ohio — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner and women’s No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka earned straight-set victories in the finals of the Cincinnati Open on Monday, the first titles at the tournament for both players.
Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 for her first title since the Australian Open in January.
Sinner, who turned 23 on Friday, beat American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (4), 6-2 to become the youngest Cincinnati champion since 21-year-old Andy Murray won in 2008.
“I’m very happy to be in the position where I am,” Sinner said. “I’m just trying to keep going this way mentally. It’s important to recover to be ready for New York. That’s the most important thing.”
The U.S. Open begins on Aug. 26 in New York.
Sinner and Tiafoe were both playing in their first Cincinnati finals with their previous best results being the third round.
Tiafoe forced a tiebreak in the first set, but three straight errors led to a 7-6 defeat.
Sinner had a 5-1 lead in the second before Tiafoe saved three match points to make it 5-2 before Sinner was able to serve out for the win.
Tiafoe had a less conventional path to the final. He won the first set in the quarterfinals on Saturday before Hubert Hurkacz retired with a calf injury then saved two match points to defeat Holger Rune in three sets in the semis.
An American man hasn’t won the title in Cincinnati since Andy Roddick in 2006.
Sabalenka moved up a spot to No. 2 in the rankings before the match, then didn’t lose a set en route to her 15th WTA title. She had never gotten past the semifinals at Cincinnati, losing three times in that round.
The 26-year-old Sabalenka can now be considered a favorite at the U.S. Open. The Belarusian missed Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, then returned to the tour at Washington two weeks ago.
“I would say that I’m really playing great tennis,” Sabalenka said. “Probably not the best tennis I can play but I’m definitely getting there. Hopefully at the U.S. Open I can reach even higher levels.”
Against Pegula, Sabalenka took 17 minutes to build a 4-1 lead in the first set. Pegula, who double-faulted five times, broke serve for the first time to tie the second set at 5-all, but Sabalenka won the next two games to finish off the 1-hour, 14-minute match.
“She was playing at a high level and never really came down,” Pegula said. “When she’s serving really well, it’s tough, especially on these fast courts.”
The sixth-ranked Pegula had a challenging road to the final. After defending her title at Toronto, the American played two matches on Friday because of weather-related postponements and had three matches go three sets. Her time on the court exceeded Sabalenka’s by more than two hours entering the final.
“I’m proving to myself that I can play a lot of matches and overcome a lot of challenges,” Pegula said. “I’m looking forward to not doing anything for a few days.”
Sabalenka joined top-ranked Iga Swiatek as the only players with 10 or more WTA titles since 2020. She beat Swiatek in the Cincinnati semis.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
