Aryna Sabalenka continued her 2024 US Open campaign with another win, this time beating Lucia Bronzetti in two sets.
The World No. 2 player arrived in New York after playing a tremendous week of tennis in Cincinnati, where she bested everybody to win the title. As a result, she also made herself the number one favorite among all players at Flushing Meadows.
Iga Swiatek is among the favorites as well, but clearly not playing at that level, as she lost to Sabalenka in Cincinnati. Coco Gauff is nowhere near that level at the moment, and Elena Ryabkina hasn't played in a long time, so it was all about the Belarusian.
She has been doing well in New York so far, winning both of her matches without too many problems. Fans are used to seeing her destroy opponents on the courts, and she brought some of that back.
This match wasn't that close, even though her opponent tried her best. Bronzetti is a tricky player who enjoys battling. Even when she's down 0-5, the Italian won't give up and will fight for every point.
That's the sort of profile that annoys Sabalenka quite a bit, and some of the faces she made during this match certainly prove that. Bronzetti is also good at rerouting the opponent's force against them, which can be, again, very annoying.
Even so, the Italian was no match for Sablaneka, who won the opening set 6-3 in a little over 30 minutes. The Belarusian served well, but she was a bit too strong on some of those shots. She totaled 12 unforced errors in only nine games of play, which was a bit too much.
She also had 12 winners, which makes that stat look a bit better, but overall, it wasn't the cleanest performance from her. Serving well certainly helped her avoid any pressure from the Italian.
Bronzetti is not a player who will just stand on the baseline, hoping that her opponent misses. She tries to win points, but her opponent's serve negated many of those tries.
Sabalenka has just been serving incredibly well, which isn't always guaranteed. When she does serve well, she's almost impossible to beat, as this most recent run proves.
The second seed started the second set with an early break, but it wasn't the cleanest break. She wasted three break points before converting the fourth. Still, she didn't let up, as she wanted to get off the courts as soon as possible, given the incredibly high temperatures in New York.
She kept applying pressure and broke her opponent's serve once more to take a 3-0 lead. From there, it was a simple cruise to the finish line, as she won the match 6-3, 6-1 to advance to the third round of the 2024 US Open.
Aryna Sabalenka vs Lucia Bronzetti Match Stats:
| Aryna Sabalenka | Lucia Bronzetti | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Aces | 2 |
| 1 | Double Faults | 3 |
| 74% | First Serve % | 58% |
| 77% (24/31) | Points Won After First Serve % | 62% (18/29) |
| 82% (9/11) | Points Won After Second Serve % | 38% (8/21) |
| 50% (4/8) | Break Point Conversion | 0% (0/0) |
| 24 | Winners | 9 |
| 17 | Unforced Errors | 11 |
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