Aryna Sabalenka Dominates US Open Third Round
Aryna Sabalenka is not in New York to play along with anyone’s narrative.
The world No. 1 stormed into the US Open third round on Thursday with a brutal 6-1, 6-1 dismantling of Polina Iatcenko on Arthur Ashe Stadium, then lit up the press room with a different kind of power.
The line of questioning was familiar. And she’d clearly had enough.
After a reporter suggested that the events and appearances around the tournament had involved “parties and fun,” Sabalenka snapped back, bristling at the implication that her off-court commitments had come at the expense of her preparation.
“You guys are, like, a joke. Parties, fun … like, why would you even say that? Why would you even think about that? What kind of question is that?” she shot back.
The room fell quiet. Sabalenka wasn’t finished.
“Just because I posted, like, some activities with brands, and you think that I've been partying, not training?” she added, before cutting the exchange short.
On court, there had been no sign of distraction. No hint of a player drifting through a season without a major title to her name. Sabalenka, the double defending champion in New York, ripped through Iatcenko with the kind of controlled aggression that has made her one of the sport’s most intimidating frontrunners.
She lost just two games. She never looked in danger of losing control.
Afterward, when the conversation turned back to tennis, her tone softened but her message stayed sharp. This is a player trying to recalibrate, not reinvent.
“I've been working really hard, but I feel like I'm kind of moving away from trying to be perfect on court,” the four-time grand slam winner said. “I know that you cannot be perfect, and I'm just trying to work with what I have right now.”
That shift matters. Sabalenka has not lifted a trophy since Miami in March, a drought by her own high standards. For a player who has built her reputation on relentless intensity and a booming baseline game, the middle of the season felt like a stall.
“I think I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season,” the 28-year-old admitted. “Once again, I'm not going to defend myself or explain why, what happened, but I'm happy with my level.”
The numbers back her up this week. Two rounds, two beatdowns, and a familiar sense of inevitability when she steps onto Ashe. The search now is for a third straight US Open crown and a way to avoid finishing the year without a major title, a scenario that would have seemed unlikely when she lifted the Miami trophy.
If there is any doubt about where her head is, Sabalenka insists it’s no longer in the fog that briefly surrounded her campaign.
“I can definitely say that mentally I'm way stronger than I was in the middle of the season, and physically I also feel stronger,” she said. “I feel like I'm on my level of play, and I just want to bring the right focus on the match every time.”
The message is clear. The off-court noise can swirl, the social media posts can be picked apart, the questions can needle. Sabalenka believes her tennis, and her mentality, are back where they need to be.
The rest of the draw now has to decide whether it believes her—or finds out the hard way on Arthur Ashe.
