Tennis – Sabalenka beats Hon in the first round of the US Open | WSAU News/Talk 550 AM · 99.9 FM

By Amy Tennery

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Aryna Sabalenka opened her U.S. Open campaign with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over qualifier Priscilla Hon on Monday. The Belarusian fought hard for every point in a dominant performance to end the opening night at Louis Armstrong Stadium.

Sabalenka, who failed to reach the final last year and reached the semifinals in 2021 and 2022, beat 27 winners to face Italian Lucia Bronzetti in the second round.

“Even though I didn’t play my best tennis, I fought for every point,” said Sabalenka, who arrived in New York in excellent form after her victory in Cincinnati.

“She played really aggressively today, great tennis. It wasn’t easy to play against her in the first round.”

With the New York crowd on her side, the two-time Australian Open champion used her deadly forehand to break Australian Hon in the opening game and took another chance to close out the first set.

After several breaks, Sabalenka converted a chance with a backhand winner in the sixth game of the second set.

Hon had raised her level across the board, making just one unforced error in the second set, but was unable to match Sabalenka’s power as she failed to capitalize on any of her five break points in the seventh game.

Sabalenka, who took a break this season due to injury, finished the match with two forehand shots and clenched her fist in subdued celebration.

“I took everything I could from this little break,” said Sabalenka. “Hopefully things will go well for me.”

(Reporting by Amy Tennery in New York; Editing by Peter Rutherford)