There’s a special tradition at the US Open, where coaches of the singles champions are awarded miniature replicas of the winners’ trophy, in recognition of their efforts.
Last week, after Aryna Sabalenka secured the third Grand Slam title of her career and first at the US Open, the Belarusian stood in the main interview room at the media centre and proudly handed her coach Anton Dubrov a mini version of the trophy she had just won.
Dubrov, who has been coaching Sabalenka since 2020, looked as relieved as his player was when she finally clinched the title in New York.
“It actually means a lot, to be honest,” Dubrov told The National. “Because we’ve gone through some pretty tough things before, especially in July when she got injured before Wimbledon. And it was the period where we had some doubts about what we were going to do next, because we have to come back and how we will be able to come back here after having a tough loss from last year.”
After losing in the US Open semi-finals in 2021 and 2022, Sabalenka fell in the 2023 final to home favourite Coco Gauff, who rallied from a set down to overcome her power-hitting opponent.
It was a tough pill to swallow for Sabalenka, who found herself once again facing an American in a US Open final just 12 months later – this time against Jessica Pegula.
With a capacity of nearly 24,000, Arthur Ashe Stadium is the largest tennis arena in the world and its New York crowd make sure it is also the loudest.
When Pegula wiped a 3-0 deficit against Sabalenka in the second set of the final last week and swept five games in a row, the home fans erupted and nearly blew the roof off the stadium, which was closed due to the rain and made everything sound even louder.
NBA superstar Stephen Curry was sitting behind the baseline cheering on Pegula, urging her to complete the comeback.
In front of a celebrity-packed house that was mostly rooting against her, Sabalenka did not falter as she did a year earlier. Instead, she blocked out the noise and, in the words of Pegula, “played some big tennis in some big moments”, to win in straight sets.
“Aryna did great. She stuck to the plan, she trusted the process, she trusted the things we talked through every day and she was actually brave enough to do them when she was under huge pressure,” said Dubrov.
“To play a final again against an American at the US Open is really tough, there is such big pressure all the time in this stadium. I usually take some Advil [Ibuprofen] every time because I just cannot help it and she’s on the court there alone, against everyone. As she said, she’s proud of herself and the whole team is really proud of her.”
Despite missing Wimbledon with a shoulder injury, Sabalenka has already locked down her qualification for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, thanks to her title runs at the Australian Open, Cincinnati, and US Open, so far this season.
The 26 year old, who is on a 12-match winning streak, will now shift her focus to the Asian swing, where she is scheduled to compete in both Beijing and Wuhan.
Sabalenka, who spent a total of eight weeks last year at the summit of the world rankings, currently trails top-ranked Iga Swiatek by a little over 2,000 points and has a chance of returning to the No 1 spot by the end of this campaign.
“The goal is first to be fit and healthy, because it’s going to take a while to recover. The main goal for us this season is to finish on a high note,” said Dubrov.
“Right now, I would say we can talk about the No 1 spot, to finish the year as No 1 is a really cool goal. But as I said, this [run in New York] took so much energy and emotions so first of all we need to also learn how we can recover as fast as we can and set those goals.
“Because everyone has goals and says, ‘I want to win four Slams and finish No 1’. That’s a cool goal and you can do it but it just takes you a while to manage it.”
With the Grand Slam season officially over, this is the first year since 2014 there has not been a first-time major champion in women’s singles.
Sabalenka added two majors to take her total tally to three, Swiatek claimed a fifth Grand Slam title by triumphing at Roland Garros and Barbora Krejcikova reigned supreme at Wimbledon to become a two-time major singles champion.
Most of the biggest tournaments on the WTA tour have been dominated by top-10 players, signalling a state of stability that had eluded the women’s game for several years. Dubrov knows that can all change very quickly though.
“I would love to say 'yes, it’s more stable', but there are also a lot of girls I can see on tour that are really, really close to getting there. So yes, for now yes, you can see more stability at the top. But at the same time, it’s more about, if some of the top players – even for us it’s the same – they stop improving at some point, they’re going to be replaced pretty soon,” he said.
And what does Sabalenka need to work on to keep herself ahead of the chasing pack? “Everything,” he replied. “Honestly, like everything. Starting with the movement, with the mental part also, there are things she can improve. She’s much better but she can still improve.
“And the technical part you never stop. Because there is always room to improve. And as you can see from all the champions, from their careers, the way they were on top all the time, if you look how they were at 18 and how they were at 35, it’s like two completely different people, so there’s always something to improve.”
BUNDESLIGA FIXTURES
Friday (UAE kick-off times)
Borussia Dortmund v Paderborn (11.30pm)
Saturday
Bayer Leverkusen v SC Freiburg (6.30pm)
Werder Bremen v Schalke (6.30pm)
Union Berlin v Borussia Monchengladbach (6.30pm)
Eintracht Frankfurt v Wolfsburg (6.30pm)
Fortuna Dusseldof v Bayern Munich (6.30pm)
RB Leipzig v Cologne (9.30pm)
Sunday
Augsburg v Hertha Berlin (6.30pm)
Hoffenheim v Mainz (9pm)
RESULT
Bayern Munich 5 Eintrracht Frankfurt 2
Bayern: Goretzka (17'), Müller (41'), Lewandowski (46'), Davies (61'), Hinteregger (74' og)
Frankfurt: Hinteregger (52', 55')
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What are the influencer academy modules?
- Mastery of audio-visual content creation.
- Cinematography, shots and movement.
- All aspects of post-production.
- Emerging technologies and VFX with AI and CGI.
- Understanding of marketing objectives and audience engagement.
- Tourism industry knowledge.
- Professional ethics.
Ferrari 12Cilindri specs
Engine: naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V12
Power: 819hp
Torque: 678Nm at 7,250rpm
Price: From Dh1,700,000
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The story of Edge
Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, established Edge in 2019.
It brought together 25 state-owned and independent companies specialising in weapons systems, cyber protection and electronic warfare.
Edge has an annual revenue of $5 billion and employs more than 12,000 people.
Some of the companies include Nimr, a maker of armoured vehicles, Caracal, which manufactures guns and ammunitions company, Lahab
The burning issue
The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.
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- Punch
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Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
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WIDE%20VIEW
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Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
Fireball
Moscow claimed it hit the largest military fuel storage facility in Ukraine, triggering a huge fireball at the site.
A plume of black smoke rose from a fuel storage facility in the village of Kalynivka outside Kyiv on Friday after Russia said it had destroyed the military site with Kalibr cruise missiles.
"On the evening of March 24, Kalibr high-precision sea-based cruise missiles attacked a fuel base in the village of Kalynivka near Kyiv," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement.
Ukraine confirmed the strike, saying the village some 40 kilometres south-west of Kyiv was targeted.
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
SPECS
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Scoreline
Man Utd 2 Pogba 27', Martial 49'
Everton 1 Sigurdsson 77'
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- Marie Curie
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- Albert Einstein
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