U.S. Open: Aryna Sabalenka full of confidence after loss to Coco Gauff last year

The result lingers nearly a year later.

It is not front of the mind for Aryna Sabalenka, understand. It does not haunt her. It is not an obsession. But it’s there, forever etched into the history books. A part of her history.

‘It’ is her loss to Coco Gauff in the finals of the 2023 U.S. Open women’s tournament. And while Sabalenka cannot change what happened, she has a chance to author a new chapter with an ending that is far more satisfying.

“Every time [I come] here, I'm really hoping for the best result. I really hope one day I'll be happy to lift this beautiful trophy,” Sabalenka said during her press availability Friday at the U.S. Open’s Media Day.

Come Sept. 7, she may very well do just that.

The WTA’s second-ranked player should be among the odds-on favorites to win the women’s half of the tournament beginning Monday.

Already in this calendar year, Sabalenka has won the Australian Open and the Cincinnati Open, beating Qinwen Zheng and Jessica Pegula, respectively, and reached the finals of the Italian Open, Madrid Open, and Brisbane International. She beat No. 1 Iga Swiatek on the way to Cincinnati title. 

So, as one might suspect, she is viewing her game positively heading into the final major of the year.

“I definitely felt really…really good after Cincinnati title. It was very important for me to get that title and to get those wins,” Sabalenka said. “Yeah, I was really happy with the level I played. It's not like it's a weight [off of] my shoulder. It [s just little…happy moment before going to the U.S. Open; it is very important to have  good feelings before the big tournaments.”

Indeed, but she isn’t the only one.

Take, for instance, Gauff.

Even though the third-ranked player in the world has won one tournament in 2024, the ASB Classic in January, she believes her game is rounding back into form due to work-intensive practice sessions after being eliminated from the Cincinnati Open in the round of 32 by Yulia Putintseva.

“Obviously I wanted to go into Cincinnati and win but I had more realistic things in my head after coming from the Olympics and switching surfaces so fast,” Gauff said. “So really, the main focus was trying to be as ready as possible for here, which I feel like it was a blessing in disguise I lost so early, because I was able to actually train, which I hadn't been able to. I have my best results when I come off a training block. I was able to train for a good week and a half and obviously still have a couple more days to do that.

“The last couple of practices have gone really well, which before, like, during Cincinnati wasn't having great practices, in Toronto wasn't having great practices. Here I'm having great practices, which, you know, doesn't mean I'm going to go out on the match and play great, but it does give you more confidence when you're actually practicing great the week before a tournament.”

Still, in order to repeat as champion, Gauff will have to navigate a field which includes the WTA’s top-ranked player, Iga Swiatek; sixth-ranked Pegula, the daughter of Terry and Kim Pegula, the owners of the NFL’s Buffalo Bills and the NHL’s Buffalo Sabres; and Zheng, who is seventh in the WTA’s rankings.

And they all want what Gauff has.

“It would be awesome,” Pegula said, when asked if she envisioned winning the Open. “It would be incredible, and I think it would be a lot of, not like relief, but it's just like a reward for all the hard work.  would love to be able to say that I accomplished that.”