Tennis: Sinner And Sabalenka Win Cincinnati Open Titles

By: Gyang Dakwo

World number one Jannik Sinner beat Frances Tiafoe 7-6(4) 6-2 at the Cincinnati Open final on Monday, showing that despite recent health struggles he will still be the man to beat at the upcoming U.S. Open in New York.

The 23-year-old, who has been struggling over the last couple months with a hip issue and who missed the Paris Olympics due to tonsillitis, was error-prone to start the contest and came up limping after several points in the tight first set.

Sinner’s triumph at the Masters 1000 event follows his Grand Slam breakthrough at the Australian Open in January and is his fifth title of the year and first at the tournament in Ohio.

Critically, Sinner has now shown that he can win even when not 100% healthy, an attribute he may need to utilize at Flushing Meadows where defending champion Novak Djokovic and world number three Carlos Alcaraz are the other hot favorites.

In the women’s tournament, Aryna Sabalenka harnessed her powerful serve to subdue American Jessica Pegula 6-3 7-5 and win the Cincinnati Open, sending a message ahead of the year’s final major in New York.

The twice Australian Open champion dropped only nine points on serve and hit 10 aces as she overcame some jitters late in the second set in an otherwise confident performance to pick up her sixth WTA 1000 title.

Pegula had appeared to be in good form after she retained her title in Toronto earlier this month but she struggled with her serve, with five double faults, as her nine-match unbeaten run came to an end.

The performance removed any possible doubt that Sabalenka is one of the hot favourites in Flushing, despite a shoulder injury earlier this season that forced her to miss Wimbledon.