Tennis
Sabalenka’s drama in the US Open final. Showered to the delight of the American crowd
Arina Sobolenko / Photo: © Elsa / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Aryna Sabalenka’s great comeback in the semifinals will forever go down in US Open history. The Belarusian cursed, threw her rackets, argued with the coach, lost to smithereens, but still managed to miraculously defeat the American Madison Keys.
However, the future first racket of the world wanted more – she needed the title of US Open champion. Only for this it was necessary to defeat another US representative in front of her native audience, as well as a scattering of celebrities, including Maria Sharapova.
Arina was nervous, but she took the first set
Sabalenka’s opponent in the final was Cori Gauff, a young American who has been compared to Serena Williams. The 19-year-old tennis player had not yet won a Grand Slam tournament, so her motivation was heading into space. However, like Arina. Experts had a hard time predicting the favorite. On the one hand, Sabalenka is already actually the first racket of the world, regardless of the result of the US Open final, but Gauff was in very good shape at this tournament. Sabalenka has already secured leadership in the rankings and literally defeated all her rivals in a row until the semi-finals. Gauff also had a very strong tournament and looked capable of beating any opponent. Women’s tennis is already full of surprises, but here everything was completely confusing and incomprehensible.
Sabalenka immediately took Gauff’s serve, and then almost immediately returned hers – 2:2. At the same time, Arina was clearly nervous and made unforced errors. The American public also did not behave very well, rejoicing at every failure of the Belarusian tennis player. Spectators in the USA were especially happy when Sabalenka made double faults, but this is considered a sign of bad taste in tennis.
However, this was not something personal against Arina. The Americans cheered in exactly the same way against Novak Djokovic in his confrontation with local guy Ben Shelton. The desire to support compatriots is understandable and normal, but sometimes at the US Open it went beyond the bounds of decency. Meanwhile, Sabalenka, following her own serve, again took someone else’s. And this time she didn’t lose her advantage, confidently bringing the first set to victory – 6:2. The Belarusian spent only 39 minutes on this.
America rejoices as Sabalenka storms to the top
Of course, it was naive to think that this would all end. Gauff didn’t even think about giving up. Moreover, in the lost set there was a fight in every rally, and everything could have turned in the other direction. The important moment of the second game was the first game, where Sabalenka had two break points. If Arina had taken the American’s serve, the chances of a final victory would have increased significantly.
And so Cory pulled out that game and played much more cheerfully, clearly having caught the courage. The American woman screamed loudly several times with joy. In addition, the Belarusian began to panic again. On a break point, Sabalenka managed to make a double fault against her opponent – 1:3. Arina had a chance to make a reverse break, but Gauff held serve and led with a score of 4:1. Then the American, not without difficulty, maintained her advantage and evened the score in sets.
The fate of the US Open women’s singles trophy was decided in the third game. Gauff, admittedly, played incredibly consistently, while Sabalenka, on the contrary, was nervous and could not get her act together. The American was leading with a score of 4:0, and there was a feeling that everything could end in a “steering wheel” in the third set. To Arina’s credit, she tried to return to the game and even took two games – 2:4. But, unfortunately, there was no comeback. Sabalenka failed to change the course of the meeting, and Gauff calmly brought it to victory – 6:2 and 2:1 in sets.
The American won a Grand Slam singles tournament for the first time in her career. But Arina, despite the defeat, will officially become the first racket of the world.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.
January 19, Ukrainian tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva (WTA 110) will begin play in the 2026 Australian Open main draws.
In the first round, the Ukrainian player will play against the Australian representative Aily Tomljanovic (WTA76). The match will kick off with the opener of the evening session at John Cain Arena. The estimated start time of the match is 08.00 Kyiv time.
The best moments of tennis matches LIVE on Telegram channel Tennis on Sport.ua
This will be the second head-to-head meeting between the rivals. The score is 1:0 in favor of Ayla.
The winner of the match will face Elena-Gabriela Ruse (Romania, WTA 79) in the second match.
DAY CALENDAR
TOURNAMENT TABLE
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Tennis
Yulia Starodubtseva – Ayla Tomlyanovich. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
On November 19, Yulia Starodubtseva (WTA 110) and Ayla Tomljanovic (WTA 76) will start competing at the Australian Open.
The meeting is planned to start at 08.00 Kyiv time.
Sport.ua together with a betting partner bet announcing the upcoming fight!
Yulia Starodubtseva
The Ukrainian athlete has already played six matches this season and won five of them. Starodubtseva started with a tournament held in Auckland, where she successfully qualified by beating Frenchwoman Ponchet and Austrian Tagger. Katie Boulter suffered defeat in the first round of the main round.
The tennis player also started the Australian Open with the qualifiers, where she beat the Frenchwoman Tubello 6:2, 3:6, 6:0. Then there were victories against the Greek Papamikhail, 6:1, 6:2. In the qualifying final, Starodubtseva defeated Bulgarian Tomova with sets 7:6, 6:2. The Ukrainian player is in good form ahead of this season’s first Grand Slam.
Ayla Tomljanovic
The Australian athlete is a typical middle player in world tennis. Even though there are breaks, it has been in the top 100 for a long time. Tomlyanovich is 32 years old, he can already be considered a veteran. Although the Australian Open is a tennis player’s home tournament, he performs worst here because he has never been able to advance beyond the second round.
Tomljanovic started this season with a tournament in Brisbane, where she defeated France’s Jacquemo with scores of 6:1, 6:3 and then lost in a tough fight to the powerful Carolina Muchova with scores of 6:4, 1:6, 6:7. There was also a tournament in Adelaide where they managed to beat Clara Towson 7:6, and the opponent refused. Ayla, who was ahead 2:0 in the first set of the second round, withdrew from the match due to a knee injury at 40:40 in her serve. It is unclear at this time whether he is 100% physically ready.
personal meetings
Tennis players met only once, it was in September last year, then in Beijing Tomljanovic managed to win in two sets: 7:6 and 6:2.
To guess
This couple does not have a clear favorite, maybe it will be easier for the Australian, the public will support him, his body is more accustomed to such a time zone. For tennis players at this level, every victory in a major is extremely valuable.
I am waiting for a difficult and unpredictable match that can end with any outcome, I will bet on more than 20.5 matches for 1.66.
Yulia Starodubtseva19.01.2026 –
08:00
Ayla Tomljanovic 1.66 place a bet KRAIL License No. 559 dated 12/05/2024 Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Turkish tennis player Zeynep Sönmez (WTA 112) has made a strong start to the 2026 Australian Open.
Turkish woman beat the world’s “neutral” 11th racket in three sets in the first round Ekaterina Aleksandrova In 2 hours 37 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Ekaterina Aleksandrova [11] – Zeynep Sönmez (Türkiye) [Q] – 5:7, 6:4, 4:6
In the third match, Sönmez lost a single break and came back with a score of 0:3.
Zeynep will compete in the main draw of the Australian Open for the second time in her career and advanced to the second round for the first time. Her next opponent will be either Anna Bondar or Elisabette Mandlik.
Sönmez achieved the highest scoring victory of his career. Zeynep became the first Turkish representative to win the Aus Open main draws.
During the match, one of the ball players fell ill due to the heat and lost consciousness. Realizing that something was wrong, Sönmez immediately came to the rescue and put the girl on the chair.
VIDEO. Zeynep Sönmez helped the girl who lost consciousness
With respect to Zeynep Sönmez, who went to the aid of the ball boy who fainted on the field ❤️ pic.twitter.com/iHnX2TDaZ7
— TNT Sports (@tntsports) January 18, 2026
Video review of Ekaterina Aleksandrova – Zeynep Sönmez match
Photo gallery of the match (Zeynep Sönmez)
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Super League. Confident victories of a hundred Dnieper, Kyiv-Basket and Krivbass
Yulia Starodubtseva – Ayla Tomlyanovich. Watch online. Live broadcast
Yulia Starodubtseva – Ayla Tomlyanovich. Prediction and announcement for the Australian Open match
-
Ligue 13 years agoRenato Sanchez signed in Paris for five years
-
Europa League4 years agoIn transfer alert at Olympiakos for additions and concessions
-
Europa League4 years agoFenerbahce – Eintracht 1: 1: The Germans took 1st place in the Olympiacos group
-
Europa League4 years agoWithout Nainggolan and Samata, the 11th team from Antwerp
-
Europa League4 years agoEuropa League
-
Europa League4 years agoAtalanta announced the acquisition of Boga
-
Europa League4 years agoFears that Zapata will be out for 4 months
-
Premier League4 years agoExcept for the rest of January, Sean was injured