Aryna Sabalenka paid tribute to her family who "never gave up on my dream" after she claimed her third Grand Slam title with a triumph in the US Open final on Saturday night.
The world No 2 defeated home hope Jessica Pegula 7-5, 7-5 inside Arthur Ashe Stadium to add a maiden New York crown to her back-to-back Australian Open titles.
This US Open was the first Grand Slam she had won since the death of her former boyfriend in March – she only made the quarter-finals at the French Open and missed Wimbledon with injury.
Ice hockey player Konstantin Koltsov, once a star of the NHL, died from apparent suicide at the age of 42. Five years ago, Sabalenka's father Sergiy passed away from meningitis at just 43.
"After I lost my father, it has always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis," said the 26-year-old Belarusian.
"Every time I see my name on that trophy, I'm so proud of myself, I'm proud of my family that they never gave up on my dream and that they were doing everything they could to keep me going. I had this opportunity in life so it really means a lot. It has always been my dream."
On Saturday, Sabalenka summoned her familiar weapons of super-charged serve and brutal groundstrokes to defeat sixth-ranked Pegula. Her 40 winners took her tournament total to 205 with 36 aces. She boasted the third fastest serve of the competition at 191.5km/h (119mph).
"I know that I have to go for it. That's the only way it works for me," said Sabalenka. "Every time I stop my arms and the ball flies in the stands, so a long time ago I decided for myself in those important moments I just have to go for it, I have to swing."
Saturday's defeat, meanwhile, came during a rollercoaster year for Pegula, whose run to the final will see her return to her career-high No 3 in the WTA rankings.
After complaining of feeling burnt out after the Australian Open, she was laid low by a rib injury which forced her to sit out the European clay court swing, including the French Open. She marked her return to action by winning the grass-court title in Berlin.
"In Berlin I was super fresh and wanting to win these matches, and kind of fired up," said Pegula.
After second-round losses at Wimbledon and the Paris Olympics, Pegula raced to the Toronto title and finished runner-up to Sabalenka in Cincinnati. She ended the US summer hardcourt season with 15 wins in 17 matches.
Pegula had lost in Grand Slam quarter-finals six times before finally breaking through to this year's US Open championship match. Four of those losses came against the eventual champions.
In 2022, she fell to Asheigh Barty at the Australian Open and to Iga Swiatek at both Wimbledon and the US Open. At Wimbledon last year, it was Marketa Vondrousova who defeated her in the last eight before the Czech went on to capture the title.
"I've lost again to a really good player today," she said on Saturday. "I lost to girls that pretty much won the tournament every time. I had a rough start to the year and I didn't really expect to be doing this well in the hard court swing, and I was able to kind of flip that script. I will take a lot of confidence from this."
The United States still has hope for a home champion in the US Open as top-ranked American Taylor Fritz takes on world No 1 Jannik Sinner in the men's final on Sunday.
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KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre flat-six
Torque: 450Nm at 6,100rpm
Transmission: 7-speed PDK auto or 6-speed manual
Fuel economy, combined: 13.8L/100km
On sale: Available to order now
The years Ramadan fell in May
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
How to wear a kandura
Dos
- Wear the right fabric for the right season and occasion
- Always ask for the dress code if you don’t know
- Wear a white kandura, white ghutra / shemagh (headwear) and black shoes for work
- Wear 100 per cent cotton under the kandura as most fabrics are polyester
Don’ts
- Wear hamdania for work, always wear a ghutra and agal
- Buy a kandura only based on how it feels; ask questions about the fabric and understand what you are buying
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Zayed Sustainability Prize
THE BIO
Born: Mukalla, Yemen, 1979
Education: UAE University, Al Ain
Family: Married with two daughters: Asayel, 7, and Sara, 6
Favourite piece of music: Horse Dance by Naseer Shamma
Favourite book: Science and geology
Favourite place to travel to: Washington DC
Best advice you’ve ever been given: If you have a dream, you have to believe it, then you will see it.
First-round leaderbaord
-5 C Conners (Can)
-3 B Koepka (US), K Bradley (US), V Hovland (Nor), A Wise (US), S Horsfield (Eng), C Davis (Aus);
-2 C Morikawa (US), M Laird (Sco), C Tringale (US)
Selected others: -1 P Casey (Eng), R Fowler (US), T Hatton (Eng)
Level B DeChambeau (US), J Rose (Eng)
1 L Westwood (Eng), J Spieth (US)
3 R McIlroy (NI)
4 D Johnson (US)
THE SPECS
Engine: Four-cylinder 2.5-litre
Transmission: Seven-speed auto
Power: 165hp
Torque: 241Nm
Price: Dh99,900 to Dh134,000
On sale: now
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Brief scores:
Arsenal 4
Xhaka 25', Lacazette 55', Ramsey 79', Aubameyang 83'
Fulham 1
Kamara 69'
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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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.
Read more about the coronavirus
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
MATCH INFO
Barcelona 2
Suarez (10'), Messi (52')
Real Madrid 2
Ronaldo (14'), Bale (72')
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The five pillars of Islam
Should late investors consider cryptocurrencies?
Wealth managers recommend late investors to have a balanced portfolio that typically includes traditional assets such as cash, government and corporate bonds, equities, commodities and commercial property.
They do not usually recommend investing in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies due to the risk and volatility associated with them.
“It has produced eye-watering returns for some, whereas others have lost substantially as this has all depended purely on timing and when the buy-in was. If someone still has about 20 to 25 years until retirement, there isn’t any need to take such risks,” Rupert Connor of Abacus Financial Consultant says.
He adds that if a person is interested in owning a business or growing a property portfolio to increase their retirement income, this can be encouraged provided they keep in mind the overall risk profile of these assets.
Disability on screen
Empire — neuromuscular disease myasthenia gravis; bipolar disorder; post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Rosewood and Transparent — heart issues
24: Legacy — PTSD;
Superstore and NCIS: New Orleans — wheelchair-bound
Taken and This Is Us — cancer
Trial & Error — cognitive disorder prosopagnosia (facial blindness and dyslexia)
Grey’s Anatomy — prosthetic leg
Scorpion — obsessive compulsive disorder and anxiety
Switched at Birth — deafness
One Mississippi, Wentworth and Transparent — double mastectomy
Dragons — double amputee
