Aryna Sabalenka hasn’t been herself at Grand Slams in 2026. After making it to the Australian Open final — where she lost — Sabalenka experienced early exits at both the French Open and Wimbledon. One of those losses resulted in Sabalenka declaring she wanted to “quit tennis right now.”
That proved to be an empty threat. And despite exiting the two most recent Grand Slams earlier than expected, Sabalenka, 28, maintained her No. 1 WTA ranking and was the favorite heading into the 2026 US Open.
Advertisement
She proved exactly why that was the case with a strong win in her first-round match Monday. Sabalenka dispatched Camila Osorio in straight sets (6-2, 6-4), earning a trip to the second round at the event.
Sabalenka may have looked vulnerable right off the bat, dropping the first game to Osorio. But it quickly became clear that Sabalenka just needed a warmup to find her form. She won the next four games, using a dominant serve to pick up easy points. Osorio won the sixth game in the set, but Sabalenka took the next two, cruising to a 6-2 win. Sabalenka notched five aces during the set.
It looked as if Sabalenka would carry that momentum into the second set initially, as she took the first game. But Osorio showed fight from there, taking three of the next four games from Sabalenka to take a 3-2 lead in the set.
Advertisement
Sabalenka fought back in the next game to even things up. After trading the next two games to make it 4-4, Sabalenka managed another win, taking a 5-4 lead in the set. With another win, she would advance to the second round.
She did just that. Sabalenka won the 10th game in the second set to move on to the second round.
Though Sabalenka struggled at the French Open and Wimbledon, she was still considered the favorite to win the 2026 US Open. There are multiple reasons for that. Despite her recent Grand Slam losses, there’s no evidence Sabalenka has fallen off as a player just yet. On top of that, she has experienced plenty of success at the US Open in recent years, winning the past two and finishing as a runner-up in 2023. As she proved Monday, she knows the court extremely well.
Advertisement
Still, given Sabalenka’s recent losses — and the early exit of Novak Djokovic on Sunday — being a high seed at a Grand Slam doesn’t mean much if a player isn’t able to perform as their best self.
While it wasn’t a perfect win, Sabalenka showed enough to suggest she’s ready for another lengthy Grand Slam run, regardless of her stumbles at recent high-profile events.
Source: sports.yahoo.com
