Aryna Sabalenka capped off her flawless run at the Cincinnati Open 2024 by defeating Jessica Pegula in the finals. Despite the louder support for the hometown’s favorite, Sabalenka pulled off an amazing 6-3, 7-5 victory. While her performance was impressive, to say the least, it was an interaction between the two finalists during the trophy presentation that took the internet by storm.
The Belarusian left the entire tennis community impressed with her performance during the past week. After the 76-minute straight-sets win, Pegula also had to tip her hat to the World No.2. She did so by comparing Sabalenka to the great Serena Williams.
“Funny, Andrew [Krasny] said Aryna, and I thought he said Serena, but it felt like Serena today with the way you were serving there for a little bit, so I don’t know, I may have wanted Serena instead of Aryna,” Pegula joked during her speech in the presentation ceremony.
Jessica Pegula to Aryna Sabalenka:
‘Funny, Andrew [Krasny] said Aryna, and I thought he said Serena, but it felt like Serena today with the way you were serving there for a little bit, so I don’t know, I may have wanted Serena instead of Aryna’ [laughs] pic.twitter.com/75ZKKR3RdP
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) August 19, 2024
Such lofty comparisons originate from Pegula’s encounter with Andrew Krasny in a previous post-match interview. After defeating Paula Badosa in the semifinals of the WTA Masters 1000, Pegula misheard the emcee say “Serena” instead of “Aryna”.
Q: ‘What are your thoughts going into such an epic final against Aryna?’
[Pegula pauses, looking like she’s seen a ghost]
Pegula: ‘Erm, I thought you said *Serena*’
Krasny: ‘Yeah, so here’s a surprise, ladies and gentlemen, Serena…’
Pegula: ‘I mean, you never know’ [laughs] pic.twitter.com/coMbvlR6so
— Bastien Fachan (@BastienFachan) August 18, 2024
This is why everyone at the Centre Court during the finals was aware of the joke. Even Sabalenka was uncontrollably laughing.
However, Sabalenka deserves all the praise for the display over the past week, putting up one of the most impressive performances in the tournament’s history.
Sabalenka achieved a feat that Williams had never
It is difficult to put Sabalenka in the same conversations as Serena Williams just as yet. However, Williams never achieved the feat that Sabalenka accomplished during her win at the Cincinnati Open 2024.
Aryna Sabalenka had a perfect run in Ohio. Without even dropping a single set, the 26-year-old won the Cincinnati Masters. Now, Williams has won this same tournament twice – 2014 & 2015. But in both these title runs, the legend dropped sets.
In 2014, Serena defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals. But, the Danish player did give her some great competition, winning the first set of the battle. Similarly, Anna Ivanovic managed to win the first set of the quarterfinals in 2015.
Sabalenka would further like to replicate Williams’ performance from 2014 by following her win in Cincinnati with the US Open victory.
