NEW YORK/STARNBERG, August 28, 2024
Aryna Sabalenka advanced to the third round of the US Open beating Lucia Bronzetti of Italy 6-3, 6-1 on Louis Amstrong Stadium on Wednesday. The No. 2 seed from Belarus demonstrated a strong serving performance, with 73 per cent of her first serves landing in, compared to Bronzetti’s 56 per cent. Sabalenka hit 24 winners and broke her opponent four times to succeed in 61 minutes.
Off the court a young girl dressed in the same fuchsia outfit as Sabalenka caught everyone’s eye. She even sported a matching tiger “tattoo” on her arm, just like the two-time Australian Open champion’s signature ink.
After Sabalenka secured her victory, she lifted the girl onto the court, posed for photos with her, and signed an autograph on her big pink tennis ball.
How adorable is she⁉️🥰🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/g9Ff8Mzmc5
— Sabalenka Aryna (@SabalenkaA) August 28, 2024
“It was really adorable moment,” Sabalenka said afterwards. “I just looked up, and I saw on the big screen, like, mini me! It was so cute.
“That’s the first time I see someone dress up the same as me and having little tattoo and little tiger. How cute is that?”
The World No. 2 will next take on No. 29 seed Ekaterina Alexandrova of Russia.
Djokovic advances after Djere retires
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic benefited from the retirement of fellow Serbian Laslo Djere. Under the roof of Arthur Ashe Stadium, the No. 2 seed was leading 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 when Djere was forced to stop playing due to an abdominal injury.
“It’s not what we want. It’s not what the crowd wants, to see a walkover,” Djokovic said. “But he obviously had an injury that took him out of the Tour for some time and he is struggling to come back physically to this level. He’s such a good player, especially in these conditions. It should’ve been his second set, honestly. It was 4-2, 15/40.
“Overall, it was a big fight. Over two hours for two sets. I served awful. So playing without the serve, you have to grind, you have to run. So I guess I had to rely on my baseline game.”
Up next for the defending champion is Australian Alexei Popyrin, who Djokovic beat at the Australian Open and at Wimbledon, both in four sets.
