TENNIS

A Recap of the 2025 US Open…

… and a related formal announcement

Aryna Sabalenka lifting the US Open trophy [Photo Credit: Ocoudis — Wikimedia Commons]

Let’s get over with the newsy elements to begin with. As you would be aware at the time this is being written, Aryna Sabalenka has become the first woman to defend her US Open title since Serena Williams won three in a row from 2012 to 2014. Having reached six consecutive Grand Slam finals on hard courts, Sabalenka has won four of them.

The top-ranked player in the world got the better of eighth-seeded American Amanda Anisimova 6–3, 7–6 (3) in the final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, to finally take home a Grand Slam trophy in her third final this year. The latter, who won the 2017 US Open girls’ title, had shocked Sabalenka in the semi-finals of Wimbledon not long ago.

For the record, it was Sabalenka’s first Grand Slam title of 2025 and fourth overall. The best woman player in the world at the moment reached the semi-finals of all four Grand Slams this year but didn’t win before New York. She lost to American opponents in the finals at the Australian Open (to Madison Keys) and French Open (to Coco Gauff).

By winning the US Open, the 27-year-old avoided becoming the first woman to lose in three Grand Slam finals in a single season since Belgian Justine Henin in 2006.