Sabalenka ready to take care of business at US Open

A string of near misses at the US Open has given Aryna Sabalenka extra motivation to finally get the job done at the final Grand Slam of the year.

World number two Sabalenka, who considers the US Open her favourite Grand Slam tournament, has reached at least the semi-finals in each of the past three years, including a runner-up finish last year.

“It’s not like I often have in mind that I have something unfinished here, but these difficult defeats definitely motivated me a lot to work hard and improve the things that didn’t work in previous years,” Sabalenka told reporters.

“Every time I come here, I really hope to get the best result. I really hope that one day I will be happy to lift this beautiful trophy.”

To prepare for the hard-court season, the two-time reigning Australian Open champion took a mid-year break to recover from a shoulder injury that kept her out of Wimbledon.

The time off has worked wonders as the Belarusian, who has a game tailor-made for hard courts, won the Cincinnati title in the last of her three warm-up events and feels indestructible.

“This little break was more than necessary. The first two tournaments were a bit complicated with the shoulder. It was the first time I was faced with this kind of fear of getting injured,” Sabalenka said.

“But I’m really happy that things went well in Cincinnati and I’m confident in the hard work we’ve put in. I’m confident that I won’t get injured again.”

Sabalenka is the favourite in New York but faces plenty of tests over the fortnight, including a possible clash with defending champion Coco Gauff in the semi-finals and world number one Iga Swiatek in the final.

But Sabalenka, who has a powerful serve, an aggressive baseline game, explosive groundstrokes and is comfortable at the net, knows she has the tools to win a third Grand Slam title.

“The way I’m playing right now makes me very proud, because I know how hard I work to improve my game, to be able to make all these tricky shots and to have this variation in the game,” Sabalenka said.

“It only brings me positive emotions. Also, when I see myself improving certain things, it motivates me and inspires me to work hard and find other things to improve and become better.”