Aryna Sabalenka wins the US Open 2024 | REACTION | US Open Final 2024 | Tennis Podcast

Arena sabalenka the number two seed is the US Open ladies Champion she defeated Jessica Fula 7575 that is sabala's second slam title of the season third career slam title and I'm not goingon to lie I think going into it I wasn't really giving Jessica pigula a chance in this match but it was more of a contest than I thought it was going to be it became a bit of a tug-of war didn't it it was very much a case that they were both wrestling for control of that second set and the first set one player was up one player was down whoever you thought was going to take it it didn't look like they were some great moments in it and we almost feel a little bit cheated at this point I think from having watched it that maybe there was a third set that could have been particularly interesting because it was certainly full of drama from the scoreline perspective mini comebacks never count Jessica Pula out this tournament that's what we've learned yeah she did give a fantastic uh account of herself and we we'll we'll get we'll kind of deep do a little Deep dive onto Jessica Pula and what this this tournament and this event means for breaking new ground to reach her her first Grand Sam Sino but in terms of Arena sabalenka you know what watching this match unfold did you did you feel like this was this was her SL did you feel like it was on her Racket and it was more of a case of I don't know maybe her just handling the moment handling her nerves handling the the US crowd and if she was able to do that then the tennis was going to take care take care of itself I think a lot of lessons have been learned from last year and I you could almost see in her eyes that she was wrestling with don't go back to that place that she did last year mentally and she go there just don't go there and she did a really good job of staying true to her game plan not panicking when she lost those five games in a row I think you could say the other side of that is from three Lev up she started to think about the Finish Line potentially but very very impressive because she is a plan a player and if plan a isn't working then it it almost drops to like Plan D for a little bit and then plan a might come back so I mean very very impressive that she got it done two slams in a season it did look like it might not always be going her way despite the score at different times but we were getting we were skirting with it potentially unfolding like the final from last year because she faced Coco go last year went a set to the good there maybe maybe was a game Thinking o I've got a a US Open title ready to go ready to ready for the on court presentation but Koko goov came storming back to to win set two set three and here the way Pula pushed it late on in that second set I was I would wonder if if that was going through sabala's mind yeah I definitely think it would have been and you could tell from the way that the score changed that she was thinking about that and Laura Robson made a really good point around the fact that um Puda started to win more games in that second set when she was just playing to get on the scoreboard and then sabalenka was playing to win the title and it's a very different mentality and then almost as soon as Pula got up again sabalenka was suddenly like you know what I've got to play to not lose this set and it became not necessarily hers to lose so it was quite an interesting one because she almost played better when her back was against the wall yeah and then she had a free swing because pagura was serving second in that set um but I mean very very impressive that she came through it considering everything that's gone before the crowd what we've talked about but it does make me think if it was a Coco golf style player who just kept on getting balls in the court do you think that sabalenka could have beaten herself today as well I do you know what I I I yeah I I do think so I think you know she she does have that capability in her but I do also think that she has matured a lot over you know over over the seasons and the sabalenka of old I just don't feel like I get that or see that as much in particularly in the big matchups in in Grand s finals that's why I think she's such a a consistent performer and she's really got a handle on those nerves and that really did I think come to the four in in that second set when for all intents and purposes it did look like we were we were going through you know Jess Kulu had her thinking she was up you know she was serving for that that second set and um you know sabalenka calm relaxed didn't do anything too crazy she was the one just making the balls back in the court and got Pula thinking I think it to me showed that you know the M majority of this match sabalenka had been the front runner and Pula was chasing and maybe that was a comfortable position for Pula but when you flipped it the first opportunity as I say towards the end of that second set where Pula was the front runner it it it was it was a completely different story it was and and that's when I think Pula also was thinking oh just let me get this set and she said that afterwards at the Trophy presentation ceremony she just wanted a set and um but I think what's really positive in this is that a lot of people have criminally underrated Jesse Pula prior to this and I think even in this match that you saw people were tweeting and commentators were saying you know Jesse's out of this match this could be over really quickly when it was three love down or 4-2 in that first set and she made it really really competitive so I think savalen is right in saying that you have to consider that Pula could be a slam Champion could win one could win more but you said maybe start with one because I think sabalenka does know just how hard it is to get that first slam and it even got me thinking actually I feel like she's been almost winning slams for years more than she has the three titles that she's won were last year's Australian Open and then two this year yeah so it's really only been grand slam sabalenka mode in this last sort of two-year period not even fully two years so that's a bit scary that she's added three in such a short period of time yeah she's cat well to me she's she's catching up with with EIG Shon who's on who's on five and I know we sort of talk about these two at the at the very top of the tree and we're we sort of compare their rankings and their titles going to say big two I'm not I'm not going to say that but you know L now on on three titles they are all on they are all on hard courts um yeah what what do you make of that and comparing her with Shion Tech because I I feel like Shion Tech is the more dominant force on the tour but actually if you look at if you look at the Grand Slams particularly over the last two years I think there's an argument to say that sabalenka is the is a more dominant Force than shant Tech uh you know consistently across all four if you if you look at the results that they've had I mean that's literally what the statistics say she's had so many it's weird though because we don't really I think consider I feel like we consider schi Tech as this kind of as I say like she's the goat of the women's game at the moment or you know we don't really consider sabalenka I feel like actually actually above you know Shon Tech whereas I feel like we should give her a lot more credit where it's due particularly in the Grand Slam Arena where you look at her results they are far more consistent than what igishi has been able to to produce um outside of of Ron gas over the last few seasons yeah I mean that is true I think one thing I would sort of just point out though is that in terms of the head-to-head there were there were a lot of moments where um eager has beaten her quite comfortably on the main tour and in terms of some of the other big titles eager is obviously winning a lot of them but in terms of the slams I mean as you as we've talked about previously um last year didn't go below a semi-final at anything the last time should didn't make a quarterfinal we're looking quite far back now we're looking is it 2022 was the last time um and that would have been probably the slam before Wimbledon maybe the French Open so I mean it's it's very consistent and I think that peing at the right times is something that so many players could actually learn a lot from sabalenka from I think Serena was one of the the pros at that on the Torso was Venus where they weren't wasting their time you know trying to pick up ranking points or picking up checks for 250s appearance fees much more focused on getting those Majors because that's why they play tennis and I feel like with sabalenka it's very similar that she has the perspective of if she isn't fit don't play Wimbledon if you aren't able to represent your country don't play the Olympics and then she's the one who's managed to Peak at the right time for the US Open and so many players were trying to do that with their scheduling plans but saen is the one that's done it so I'd say for hog garuna and a lot of the players on the men's men's side play less um and try and PE rewards yeah exactly yeah and uh it I think you know you raed a really good point there like she's won two grand slams this season she didn't play Wimbledon she she was injured so to think that you know she's going two of three I have been the champion um yeah I think that's that's very very impressive stuff she is 18 and one this season in Grand events that's 90 just under 95% Wow win percentage so yeah very very impressive lost actually Joel and Roland garos that was against Mira and draa and she was hampered to the point where she could barely play from an injury perspective so even that she took that to three sets so even on one one leg one arm one racket or left-handed she's a real threat in the majors I mean I feel like we I guess similar to Shion Tech with with the red clay on you know in uh in Paris Roland garos saena has proven to us now that she is I'd say as I said the dominant force on Hardcore at Grand Sams you know she's done it in Australia she's now done it uh you know the US Open in New York City what do you think in in terms of her grand slam Ambitions what do you think is kind of the as I say the the the next like would be the next goal because is it is it to go to kind of Shion Tech's backyard and and say look I I can I can go and win a trophy there or or is it or is it Wimbledon where as I say she was absent this year her game feels like that should be the most you know obvious kind of candidate for her to to to maybe go get another trophy where where do you think she goes from here I think from watching her across this fortnite she knows she has the game to win these tournaments and even in those moments when she was down she knows that she can do it the game is with is in her and every big tournament she plays if she does play at her highest level she's very very hard to beat possibly only a couple of players in the draw would have a realistic shot of beating her because of the style of tennis she plays um Jess said it in her Trophy presentation afterwards she can really like take the racket out of your hand so I think that's where every tournament she'll be entering Australia obviously defending that will be a big goal I do think the number one ranking and that rivalry with Trion Tech is something that will really motivate her but I think she'd rather have two slams this year than the number one ranking she is number two in the race she will want to get the career CR slam um and I think that she's got the game to do it so I think it will be not getting ahead of yourself and putting yourself in these situations because she said if you work hard and you keep believing in it you can do anything I really think that she does put the work in I really think that she thinks she can do it all and I've got to mention uh her coach Chris I don't know if you saw on on the TV how could you miss this know just Ian it's quite funny I feel like she has quite a good Dynamic and quite a good bit of a laugh I feel like at times with her coaching setup listeners yeah if you've not seen this um Arena sabala's coach got what well Chris what I'm hoping is a temporary tattoo on his on his forehead of um Sabal Lena's permanent tattoo on her body the the the tiger um it's like yeah he's like it's like a b shaved head with a massive I say roll on like sticker tattoo a temporary transfer sort of tattoo I hope it's temporary I've not had this confirmed yet but I'm assuming it's temporary well you've actually I had even realized it was because of the the replica of her tattoo I thought based on what I've been seeing did you think it was a bat or or a dad no I thought someone had actually s he sold ad space on his forehead that's what I thought he done a bit like you know you've seen all of the coaches in Taylor Fritz tlor box have about four different labels on them for deals they've done in the same with I think Jess's box as an energy drink or something like that I thought he's actually sold his forehead um how much camera time he'd get I I thought you know I thought it was uh a bet that had gone wrong or a dare that had gone wrong that um maybe his coach thought that sabalenka was going to defeat alexandraa in straight sets and actually alexandraa was the only player to to push sabalenka to to three in this tournament and as a result he had to he had to do a for I mean there have been bets before between them I'm pretty sure in terms of been tattoos as well cuz you know Von drus alarz alarz keeps on getting tattoos it's a trend it's a trend maybe he's getting maybe the the coach is getting ahead of the trend is just like well I'm I'm so confident I'm GNA put I'm gonna rubber stamp my forehead with uh the yeah it's kind of wonderful because he looks so serious but also has a tiger temporary tattoo on on his on his head but then I think the other side of it is that um if she had have lost I mean imagine walking out of Arthur rash with a tiger on your head you would have put you would you would put your cap on straight away yeah there must oh the hood could go up he's wearing a hoodie that's one way of getting around it um right let's talk quickly about Jessica Pula because she's had a fantastic tournament here she did herself proud in this final because as I say like I think a lot of people were not expecting this to be as close as it was we were very very close from going to a third set and also when the chips were down in that second set you know love three staring at the abyss we were be we were kind of chatting getting ready to record and you know she was able to turn that around to go to go 53 up so you know what do you think Jessica beula will take from this final and how how do you think she'll improve on things um in the future I think not playing doubles will hopefully be a takeout from this tournament because I think last year she played mix doubles the mix doubles final maybe she also played um women's doubles with Coco go and she played singles and I think this is the first slam in a long time where she hasn't played at all and she's got herself to a final so I think that will be maybe a lesson not necessarily related to the final I think from the final I think she's definitely learned that she's someone who can perform in those moments I don't think this is one of those negative losses that you think it really got away from me I think at actually sabalenka could say the same for three love up but there were chances for Pula to um kind of steal that second set but was she the better player I don't think she was the better player I think she actually just made a really good go of it against a player who was playing you know really well showing touch showing um a great amount of power as well so I think that's kind of the belief for her for the tournament is that never count her out she would always be able to back herself in those moments in the semi-final when she was down in this final when she was down um and then in those tight moments it really can go anyway so I think knowing that she is a grand slam final Contender getting over that quarterfinal hurdle getting that out of the way I think now she can actually look at herself and people will look at her as a serious Contender um and I'm sure she always thought that herself but until you do it I think you can't say that you know that we all say well you haven't done it yet so there's a lot of positive to take from this um and maybe only like a couple of negatives that maybe when she thought that she had a I was hitting a first serve it was a second serve and she double F yes I saw that and those sort of moments yeah I was a bit surprised by that I always thought like players would be really on it yeah but that was that was sort of awkward I'm sort of glad though didn't yeah and and it didn't it didn't have any sort of consequence because she she win that game goodness yeah I think you know I think what I was so impressed by was the the ability of her to to hang tough in these really difficult situations and and spots that that she found herself in and I I guess yeah the only disappointment will be that as I say when she did become the front runner and almost as I say the favorite to become that second set she sort of as I say went into her shell uh a little bit and missed some of those first serves that she really needed against a sabalenka type I was also going to say the game plan seemed to be body serve and then just keep going crosscourt which I was I think well clearly it worked pretty well but she didn't go line and a few times I was thinking she'll take the backand line to take the backand line because sabalenka is is a pretty good mover but if you give her the ball back you do think that she's going to do something with it or some damage um off both Wings she's very dangerous so that was one thing that maybe tactically absorbing the power maybe not taking it on for the redirect and maybe when they her team was saying you know like Let It Rip basically you know just swing for it she should have just had to go down the line a couple of times um rather than than just kind of go you know Baseline to Baseline which is obviously a place where sabalenka is very comfortable so um maybe that's food for thought but again that was just an observation yeah and before we move on talking about the men's doubles do you see Jessica Pula as a grand Sam ladies champion at times tonight I thought she she would do it I think when she came back and when she went 53 up and then I even at Match Point down I thought if she could just get herself over this and imagine the demons that will rise for sabalenka having been so close and being at match point so I mean I think she can do it I think Australia will be a really good um tournament for her I think she plays well there anyway I think that's where she had a breakout result actually um her first quarterfinal was in Australia so inter to see what she can do I think clay might not always be her favorite surface um and we'll see what happens at Wimbledon but I mean next year she's she's peing she's fit the injury woses are behind her and you know I talk about all the time but belief is 95% of of tennis that is very very true and yeah we'll have to see how jpeg gets on we were deprived I still have to say we were deprived of the the battle of the billionaire da you're still sad about that Jo I'm still sad about that how long until saen is a billionaire it's a headline it's a headline that that writes itself um but uh yeah until next time until next time but congratulations to Arena sabalenka