Layout of Sinner and Sabalenka celebrating victories. GETTY IMAGES

World number one Jannik Sinner rose from the ashes like a phoenix at just the right moment to claim the last Grand Slam of the year and the second in his career. Conversely, Sabalenka, the main challenger to Swiatek’s throne, is laying the groundwork to reach the final in NY again, this time with her sights set on a third 'Major'.

Good times are here again for Sinner. His worrisome hip injury kept him out of Madrid and Rome, and later left him struggling in subsequent tournaments. Just as he seemed to be getting back on track, a devastating bout of tonsillitis crushed his dreams of competing for Olympic gold in Paris. 

Now, fully recovered, he’s thrown his hat in the ring to dominate the Big Apple after winning the Cincinnati Masters 1000, a tournament marked by the absence of top-10 players like Djokovic and De Minaur, as well as Hurkacz’s withdrawal and the surprising early exits of Medvedev, Dimitrov, Tsitsipas, Ruud, and Alcaraz in the second round.



As a result of this fortunate series of events for the Italian, another trophy has been added to his collection. If it’s hard enough to beat him on a normal day, imagine with luck on his side. The victory came relatively easily, as the 23-year-old mercilessly crushed the dreams of home favourite Frances Tiafoe, who was hoping to make a statement ahead of the New York showdown.

The scoreline, 7-6, 6-2 in just over an hour and a half, sent a clear message to the rest of the Tour: Sinner won’t settle for anything less than lifting the trophy at the US Open, a tournament that has always been a tough nut to crack for him, with a quarterfinal finish in 2022 as his best result.

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka decided to step back and skip Paris, citing the rules imposed by the women’s tennis governing body regarding mandatory tournaments. However, she didn’t stop there; she launched a scathing critique at the global tennis organizations, including the WTA itself, for how they’ve structured the 2024 calendar. This decision was also influenced by the condition that any Russian or Belarusian athlete wishing to participate in the Olympic Games must do so under a neutral flag.



For Sabalenka, this set of circumstances removed much of the incentive to participate, leading the powerful tennis star to make a difficult but necessary decision: "I had to sacrifice something for the sake of my health."

The talented and powerful player from Minsk is having a year to remember. Her win-loss record stands at 39-11 in the eight months since 2024 began. She’s already bagged two trophies, and not just minor titles. These are major victories: the recently claimed Cincinnati Masters 1000, won comfortably 6-3, 7-5 against Jessica Pegula, and the Australian Open back in January, where she triumphed without flinching against Qinwen Zheng.