Archive September 1, 2025

After past Cristina Bucsa to reach the quarter-finals in New York, defending champion Aryna Sabalenka claimed that her 2025 challenge is not based solely on her success from the previous year’s US Open.

In Louis Armstrong Stadium, the 27-year-old Belarusian won 6-1, 6-4, in the match against the unseeded Spaniard without a break point.

Sabalenka defeated American Jessica Pegula in the final of her third Grand Slam singles victory overall, which she won in September last year.

She lost to Coco Gauff and Madison Keys in the finals of Roland Garros and the Australian Open, respectively, to not have won a major title this year.

When asked about the pressure of defending her title at Flushing Meadows, Sabalenka responded, “I play not to lose, I play to win.”

“I don’t care what transpired last year,” he said. It’s a big accomplishment, of course, and I’m happy I did it once, but the goal is to do it more often.

“I always go out with the best fighting spirit and just fight for my dream,” my mentality says.

Sabalenka wants to win the US Open women’s singles title for the first time since Serena Williams did it in 2014.

In 27 minutes, Sabalenka broke Bucsa, who was ranked 95th in the world, twice to win the first set.

Busca held steady in her opening two service matches of the second set, but Sabalenka won the fifth game, keeping her position as world number one until the tournament’s conclusion, by securing a consolation break in the fifth game.

After defeating fellow Wimbledon champion Rybakina, Vondrousova defeated her to make it to the last-second Grand Slam quarter-final.

Czech left-hander Vondrousova has struggled with injuries and missed last year’s US Open due to shoulder surgery on the eve of the tournament. She won at the All England Club in 2023.

The 26-year-old out-served Rybakina, who is currently leading the WTA Tour in terms of ace count and first-serve percentage this year.

After falling to seventh seed Jasmine Paolini in the final round, Vondrousova twice broke Rybakina’s serve to put down 13 aces to her ninth-seeded opponent’s five.

It’s amazing to be standing here again, said Vindrousova, who is ranked 60th overall.

For Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta, Wayne Rooney believes it could be “now or never” and that he is “expected” to win silverware.

Dominik Szoboszlai scored a stunning free-kick to give Liverpool a 1-0 lead over Arsenal on Sunday.

When asked on The Wayne Rooney Show if he thought Arsenal might benefit from it now or never, Rooney responded, “Maybe not for Arsenal, but I think it might be for Arteta, possibly.

“I believe they allowed him to sign a lot of players and spend a lot of money,” he said. I imagine that he will have a chance to win the league, both on the board and in the fans. Therefore, I believe he might enjoy a significant year.

However, the former England and Manchester United player believes Liverpool will still be the favorite to win the Premier League this year.

“Liverpool are a very good team,” Rooney said. They have the experience and the know-how to have won the league twice in recent years. When you win games, it demonstrates a good team spirit.

Rooney continued, “Arsenal should have displayed more bravery at Anfield than they should have,” noting that he believed they should have won.”

I believe they could win that if they were just a little bit braver and went to Liverpool and actually won the game,” he said.

That’s a real chance, in my opinion, Arsenal have today. However, I believe Liverpool have done what the champions do: they have stayed in the game.

Rooney, who was born in Liverpool and started his career at Everton, said he “detested going to Anfield when he played for Manchester United because it was just awful to think he would lose the game.”

You’re probably thinking about how good the outcome will be if you win. You win, and the feeling you get is incredible, just like when we played Chelsea in the Champions League final. But he continued, “I just got to know that the thought of losing at Anfield emotionally hit me quite a lot.”

Rooney continued, “It’s always a good feeling to win against Liverpool.”

I was a Liverpool fan when I first met Everton. I then moved to United and disliked Liverpool. He claimed that losing to Liverpool was a “good feeling.”

In the]2008 Champions League final, I believe we could have won them. I was so happy it wasn’t Liverpool in the semi-final because it was Chelsea-Letterman. I believe that watching Liverpool win the Champions League final would have been too much.

Rooney recalls that Ferguson, the manager of Manchester United, had told him he wouldn’t play him at Goodison Park or Anfield.

Novak Djokovic defeated Jan-Lennard Struff to reach the US Open quarter-finals, continuing his quest for the record-breaking 25th Grand Slam title in style.

The Serb raced to a dominant 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory in less than two hours despite receiving medical attention twice.

Questions remain about the 38-year-old’s physical condition despite the win as further proof of his pedigree.

Djokovic skipped the ATP Masters events in Toronto and Cincinnati for his first tournament since July when he lost in the Wimbledon semi-finals.

In his third-round victory over Britain’s Cameron Norrie, he struggled with a lower back injury and appeared worn out in his opening two matches in New York.

As he demanded a physical to treat a neck condition before experiencing a problem with his right forearm against German Struff, there were signs of wear and tear.

The seven-time world champion praised his serve for preventing trouble for him at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

“Serving well is undoubtedly helpful. Djokovic said, “I think I had a great serving performance tonight as well as in the final round.”

I just saw the statistics, and I out-served one of the players this year with the most aces, so that’s a great stat.

That obviously makes my day-to-day on the court easier. Perhaps I shouldn’t put in as much effort or overtime than I should.

Djokovic said his daughter Tara was upset that the quarter-final will take place on the same day as her birthday.

She complained that I was unable to attend the birthday party because she was upset. Please don’t remind me of that, Djokovic, who dedicates his violin performance to his daughter at the conclusion of each win.

If I’m here, I’ll try to win. At least I’m going to try to win her over and give her that kind of gift.

For her birthday party, I’m going to send some lovely presents as well as some lovely surprises.

Djokovic became the oldest player to reach the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slam events in a single season at the age of 94 days and 38 years old.

Djokovic responded, “I don’t know how many more I am going to have, so each one is very special,” when asked about the night session being played at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

There is less room for error in his quest for a stand-alone 25th major title as the years pass.

Before his opponent made a first impression on the scoreboard, he raced to a 4-0 lead with a double break before making the best of the first impression against Struff.

Djokovic called for the physio right away after winning the opening set 6-3, but his momentum seemed to have slowed down slightly as he appeared to struggle with his neck.

However, Djokovic persevered without real issues, winning four games in a row to take the lead in the second set after a slow start.

The four-time US Open champion was treated once more for a problem with his right forearm at the end of the set.