Aryna Sabalenka and Jannik Sinner win 2024 Cincinnati Open

Aryna Sabalenka (Hameltion, Wikimedia Commons)

The last Tennis Masters 1000 Series event in the United States completed on Monday with the winners being Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus on the women’s side and Jannik Sinner of Italy on the men’s side. For Sabalenka, it was her second title in women’s tennis in 2024. Back in January, she won her second straight Australian Open. Sinner, meanwhile has won five tournaments in 2024. He has previously won the Australian Open, the Rotterdam Open, the Miami Open, and the Halle Open.

Sinner becomes the seventh player ever on the men’s side to win the Australian Open and Cincinnati Open in the same year. He follows Mats Wilander of Sweden (1983, 1984, 1988), Stefan Edberg of Sweden (1987), Andre Agassi of the United States (1995), Pete Sampras of the United States (1997), Roger Federer of Switzerland (2007 and 2010), and Novak Djokovic of Serbia (2020 and 2023).

Sabalenka is the third player ever on the women’s side to win the Australian Open and Cincinnati Open in the same year. She follows fellow Belarusian Victoria Azarenka (2013), and Serena Williams of the United States (2015).

In the 2024 Cincinnati Open on the men’s side, Sinner, the first seed, beat 2022 United States Open semifinalist Frances Tiafoe 7-6, 6-2 in the final. A major reason for Sinner’s success was his serve. He had 13 aces compared to five for Tiafoe. Sinner also beat the sixth seed Andrey Rublev of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and the third seed and two-time grand slam finalist Alexander Zverev of Germany 7-6, 5-7, 7-6 in the semifinals.

In the women’s tournament, Sabalenka, the third seed, beat the sixth seed Jessica Pegula of the United Staes in the final, 6-3, 7-5. Like Sinner, the serve was a difference maker in Sabalenka’s success. Sabalenka had 10 aces and one double fault, while Pegula had five aces and five double faults. Sabalenka beat three-time grand slam semifinalist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine 7-5, 6-2 in the third round, the 10th seed Liudmila Samsomova of Russia 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, and world number one and five-time grand slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinals.