Women's US Open Final Review with Rennae Stubbs | Countdown to the Open 🎾

all right so that was the men's side but on the women's side yesterday we crowned a champion let's take a look at the women's final between American Jessica Pula and arena sabalenka in the opening set sabalenka raced out to a 52 lead but you knew Pula was going to go was going to put up a fight the American would even it up but at five all sabalenka settled down she won the big points and she wound up taking the first set 75 she opened the second with a 3-oh lead Pula with the stadium behind her made a run winning five straight games but when it looked like she would even the match of force the third the American let a 5-3 lead slip away from there was sabalenka winning 16 of the final 23 points sabalenka also won the long rallies winning 12 of the 15 points that lasted nine or more shots after nearly two hours sabalenka here showed why she's the best woman in the world on hard courts looking at her look at the power she's just putting everything away overwhelming Pula and look Sabal Lena won the Australian Open and now she is the US Open champion after losing the Coco golf last year she now wins the US Open Championship let's bring in ESPN analyst Renee stubs thank you so much for joining us I was wondering yesterday obviously Arthur Ash was all behind the American and Jesse trying to root her to win the US Open Championship but what did you see was the difference I mean Pula was in it she certainly had her chances and wasn't able to pull it out what did you think was the difference yeah I think the difference in the end was just the belief and the fact that Arena sabalenka has won two grand slams already particularly we already talked about how well she plays on hard court she's won two Australian opens she started the year winning the Australian Open on a hard court she comes here to the US Open she had an injury at Wimbledon so she was unable to play there so she was on hardcut really early preparing for her Summer She Didn't Start the summer that well but that was also because of the shoulder injury that she sustained going into Wimbledon and then Jessica moua was also the arguably the two hottest players on Hardcore it went into the US Open they made the final and I think in the end it was just about the belief that sabalan had a little bit more than Pula having the fact that paga had never won a grand slam so I think that little difference in the end was just the belief system Renee how important also you know Arena sablena forehand has been the talk of this tournament and for good reason how important was that shot in this final and how good of a job did Jess do uh for a lot of the match in keeping the ball away from that forehand and really forcing her forcing sinka to use that backhand honestly you know it's funny that you say that because we've been saying how quick she hits the forehand but honestly her forehands the weakest shot of all of the shots on on her in her repertoire her serve is so enormously big and important and Jessica was making a great job of getting it back in the court and forcing uh just sabalan to actually hit more balls than she was probably more comfortable doing last night but the forehand was on the backhand was on there were moments in game though where she made a lot of unforced Errors sabalenka so it gave that opportunity for Jessica poua to get back into the match just because Jess was hitting the ball quite well too I mean these were as I said two incredibly informed players going into the final so everybody knew that though if they played at their best we would have a terrific match which we did it was a shame we didn't get it to three sets it came all so close Jessica up 5-3 in that second set but those momentum changes throughout the match were so evident um from time to time now J just proves that both of the women were also a little bit nervous um but at the same time knowing how well each of them play against one another Renee obviously Pula is a veteran we've been waiting for her to kind of make this breakthrough here at the US Open what do you think this run can do for her and what do you think she needs to add to her game to kind of take that next step to be able to beat aad Malena to be able to win a slam very small margins but the biggest difference last night was the second serve and so Jessica Pula if she were to look at the winning percentages of second serves hit last night Sabal Lena was much higher in that category whereas Jessica Pula was well under 30% if you are losing 30% or only winning 30% or less of your second serves that means means you have to serve really well when it comes to First serves and that was the biggest issue last night her serving first serve percentage was quite high and it was doing a good job but if she wasn't getting in in the court she was getting absolutely smashed on the second serve and so if there was an area that she could concentrate on it is absolutely the serve particularly the second serve look she's not very tall the difference in their height is about 5 Ines which is an enormous amount when you're hitting a serve but if she can get that or figure out a way to serve a little bit better with the second serve that will help her going forward and that be the Difference Maker of her winning that match last night Rene let's talk about sabalenka a bit you know she's tried a few times to win this US Open she's struggled in big games in finals especially with the emotional game what has she changed about her approach to big matches that has made her now a not just a US Open Champion but a three-time grand SL champion and so dominant this year she said it on our coverage last night at the desk when she came after winning the tournament um and said to Chris M my emotions uh that's where I'm keeping it in check she used to be so demonstrative on Court and so angry and sometimes get really annoyed at herself she's a perfectionist um and sometimes you have to let go of being a perfect tennis player cuz nobody is perfect so she's had to rely on just controlling those outbursts controlling getting upset at herself and also letting it affect her for games at a time this was somebody who couldn't hit a serve in the court a couple of years ago she was double folding literally like 20 30 times a match and so she went through a biomechanical change she went through an emotional change of dealing with those moments and so I think what she's gone through she lost her father a couple of years ago she's gone through a lot of emotional ups and downs and I think just her ability to control herself on the court is the Difference Maker now because we all known how well she hits the tennis ball but now it's all coming together and that's why she's able to have won her third Grand Slam title Renee this was an exciting US Open for American women's tennis to have uh Emma Navaro and Pula make it to the semi-finals how do you see with Coco golf also there how do you see the state of American women's tennis right now well American women's tennis has always been great it's finally the guys have finally caught up I mean we're talking about Venus and Serena Williams and SLO Stevens who won this tournament a few years ago Madison Keys has been in the final last year we've we've had always had really good solid American players through the years I mean Matty Keys was oh so close to making the finals here last year so when you think about about that and what they've been able to do and Emma Navaro what she was able to do at Wimbledon and here you they're all letting everyone know yes we have always been good and we're not going anywhere so I think for Jessica to get through to the final here was a massive breakthrough because she's had just a wall up when it comes to the quarterfinal appearances so as far as I'm concerned great story continues for the women and it won't change for a long time let's take it let's take it a little wider and let's get that big picture perspective from you as as as we close out this interview we've had in you know essentially five Majors this year if you throw in the Olympics four Champions this is the last this is the last slam of the year what are you excited about in the women's tennis game heading into 2025 um just this these rivalries that we're starting to see the Sabal Lanas uh winning now two grand slams in one year of course eish Shante has won five grand slams four at the French Open one here at the US Open so look Sabal Lanka's established that she's the best hardcore player in the world there's not even anyone close to her with her record and what she's been able to do particularly at Grand Slam level on the hard court and then you've got eeger shant who is so dominant on a slower court on a clay court so it's you've got this like really nice interesting rivalry and then of course you've got the the poulas the the Coco gos all the players that are nipping at their heels on every other surface so for me it's just the depth of women's tennis is tremendous and that's only going to continue through next year Renee thank you so much for joining us and sharing your valuable insight you're welcome guys