Aryna Sabalenka Dominates Iatcenko in US Open

Under the New York lights, Aryna Sabalenka looked like herself again.

The top seed tore through Russian qualifier Polina Iatcenko 6-1, 6-1 on Wednesday night, needing barely an hour to stamp her authority on the US Open and remind the field why she owns this court in late summer.

Sabalenka, a four-time Grand Slam champion and the two-time defending winner in New York, fed off the evening energy in Arthur Ashe Stadium and never let go.

“Night atmosphere is always the best atmosphere,” she said, and her tennis matched the mood: loud, ruthless, and utterly one-sided.

Iatcenko, a 22-year-old playing her first main draw at a major, arrived with the momentum of qualifying and the innocence of a newcomer. That vanished almost immediately. Sabalenka ripped winners at will, attacking returns, stepping inside the baseline, and turning rallies into target practice.

Within minutes, the scoreboard read 5-0. Iatcenko finally got on the board, but the first set had already slipped away with Sabalenka dropping just four points on serve. The pattern never really changed.

The Belarusian briefly wobbled only once, surrendering a lone service game in the second set to hand Iatcenko her single game of the stanza. The response was brutal. Sabalenka broke straight back, then slammed the door by reeling off the next three games to finish the job.

This wasn’t just another early-round win. It was her 15th straight victory at Flushing Meadows, a streak that stretches back over two title runs and now bleeds into a third campaign.

It also came after a stretch that had raised questions. Sabalenka’s season, so commanding early, had frayed at the edges. Disappointments at Roland Garros and Wimbledon, plus underwhelming hard-court tune-ups, had left her searching for rhythm and answers.

Here, under the lights, she sounded like a player who has found both.

She told reporters she feels “way stronger than I was in the middle of the season” mentally, and physically more secure as well. The perfectionism that once tightened her shoulders seems to be loosening its grip.

“I’m happy with my level. I’ve been working really hard, but I feel like I’m moving away from trying to be perfect on court,” she said. “I know that you cannot be perfect, and I’m just trying to work with what I have right now.”

What she has right now still looks like championship tennis.

Next up is 92nd-ranked Kamilla Rakhhimova of Uzbekistan in the third round, another player who will walk into the cauldron of Sabalenka’s night-session domain. The streak is alive, the title defense intact, and the defending champion is finally swinging like she owns New York again.