A tanned World No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka returned to the tennis court on August 9 for her first match since the Wimbledon semifinal loss to Amanda Anisimova on July 10. This was a prolonged break for a fatigued Sabalenka which involved skipping the Mubadala Citi Open and the National Bank Open in Washington, DC and Canada respectively. It also meant that the defending Cincinnati Open champion was giving herself just one hardcourt tournament to get tuned up and ready to defend her US Open crown in a few weeks.
Earning her 48th win of 2025 👊@SabalenkaA moves past Vondrousova in straight sets!#CincyTennis pic.twitter.com/xsjBC94TIE
— wta (@WTA) August 10, 2025
Sabalenka’s first match was a tough one against 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova who upset her in straight sets on her way to winning a Wimbledon tuneup at the Berlin Open in June.
Aryna Sabalenka saved 12/12 breakpoints from Marketa Vondrousova. Absolutely UNREAL stat?????????? pic.twitter.com/pjTEXgEGgM
— Liviefromparis 🇫🇷🤸🏼♀️🎾 (@Livieparis2024) August 10, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka did not look or seem rusty. She defended and saved 12 break points against her serve which proved to be the difference in the straight set win. Her next match will be against another Grand Slam champion: 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu. She leads the head-to-head against Raducancu, 2-0, but Raducanu has looked healthy and in good form in recent months.
Sabalenka stopped by the Tennis Channel desk after the Vondrousova win and caught up with Prakash Amritraj about her life in the past month. She could not get done raving about her vacation in Greece, saying that she spent time on a boat. It is one of the few places she jumps into the water without worry about sharks which are creatures she is immensely scared of.
🍉Aryna is having a great time in Greece 🍉
And how is your summer going? pic.twitter.com/EbtVBKpBFS
— News Aryna Sabalenka (@Sabanewsss) July 19, 2025
Aryna Sabalenka also explained that her steadfast team got a new addition, former Belarusian tennis player Max Mirnyi.
What Aryna Sabalenka Said About Max Mirnyi
The 2012 Olympic Games were the first to reintroduce the mixed doubles competition since 1924
(1)Victoria Azarenka/Max Mirnyi of Belarus won the Gold medal, defeating Andy Murray/Laura Robson (GBR) 2-6, 6-3, {10-8} in the Gold Medal Match pic.twitter.com/YO8XDFmvWh
— Tennis Historian (@HistorianTennis) August 2, 2024
Mirnyi, 48, retired in 2019. He is an Olympic champion in mixed doubles (2012 London with Victoria Azarenka), a former World No. 1 in doubles, and 10-time doubles Grand Slam champion (6 in men’s doubles and 4 in mixed doubles: 2 in 1998 with Serena Williams).
1000 match wins for Belarus’ Max Mirnyi! 💪
Let’s relive surely one of his best-ever shots…#FlashbackFriday pic.twitter.com/ljvCdlYaC4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) January 12, 2018
Sabalenka said he brings a fresh and trusted voice to the team, and she admitted some of the work will be on her net skills. This is a bit surprising because Sabalenka rose through the tennis ranks initially as a doubles player winning four Grand Slams with Elise Mertens.
It is unclear how long Sabalenka considered adding Mirnyi beforehand; he spend the end of 2023 and early 2024 recovering from surgery and treatment for a malignant brain tumor.
Watch Aryna Sabalenka take on Emma Raducanu in their Cincinnati Open Round of 32 match on Monday, August 11 at a time yet to be determined on the Tennis Channel.
