Sabalenka trying to avoid trend of losing Slam finals to Americans in 2025

NEW YORK (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka will be seeking her fourth Grand Slam title overall and second straight at the U.S. Open when she faces Amanda Anisimova in the women's final at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Saturday.

The No. 1-seeded Sabalenka is a 27-year-old from Belarus who will be playing in her third major title match of 2025 — each against an American opponent. She lost to Madison Keys at the Australian Open in January and to Coco Gauff at the French Open in June.

Sabalenka also beat an American, Jessica Pegula, in last year's final in New York and will be trying to become the first woman since Serena Williams in 2012-14 to won consecutive trophies at the U.S. Open.

At Wimbledon in July, Sabalenka exited in the semifinals against — guess who? — Anisimova. That is part of Anisimova's 6-3 head-to-head advantage over their careers.

She is a 24-year-old who was born in New Jersey and grew up in Florida.

After upsetting Sabalenka at the All England Club less than two months ago, Anisimova went on to lose her first Slam final to Iga Swiatek by a 6-0, 6-0 score.

That result could have held Anisimova back for quite some time. But she put it aside so effectively that she even felt OK watching that match the day before she had to play six-time major champ Swiatek again in the U.S. Open quarterfinals.

Anisimova won that one in straight sets, then defeated four-time Slam winner Naomi Osaka in the semifinals to get to her second consecutive major final — and second of her career.

When she was a teen, Anisimova won the 2017 junior title at the U.S. Open. Two years later, at age 17, she was a semifinalist at the French Open as a pro.

In 2023, she announced she was taking a break from the tour because of burnout. After the time off, Anisimova essentially had to start over; her ranking was all the way outside the top 350 when she returned to competition.

Even a year ago, she still was around No. 50.

But her breakthrough run at Wimbledon lifted her into the top 10 and she is seeded No. 8 this week.

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Howard Fendrich has been the AP’s tennis writer since 2002. Find his stories here: https://apnews.com/author/howard-fendrich. More AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis