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Aryna Sabalenka wants to cement her name in the history of tennis after winning the US Open.
The Belarussian laid her Flushing Meadows ghosts to rest as she beat Jessica Pegula in straight sets to win in New York for the first time.
Sabalenka suffered one of her darkest days when she lost last year’s final to Coco Gauff, having taken the first set.
Victory on Arthur Ashe was Sabalenka’s third grand slam title and aged 26 she has the potential to win many more, especially as she is so dominant on the hard courts.
And she is driven on by the prospect of making her late father proud.
“After I lost my father, it’s always been my goal to put our family name in the history of tennis,” she said.
“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.
“So I had this opportunity in life. So it really means a lot.
“It’s been always my dream. I still kind of cannot believe that I was able to achieve, like me with my team, we were able to achieve so much already.”
Sabalenka is currently ranked second in the world, but she knows what she has to do to become number one again.
Two grand slams titles have bookended what has otherwise been a difficult year where her ex-boyfriend died midway through the Miami Open, while illness and injury curtailed her French Open and Wimbledon hopes.
That allowed Iga Swiatek to open up a big gap as world number one, but Sabalenka knows what she has to do in order to regain her place at the summit.
“I’m not trying to focus on ranking, to be honest,” she said. “It’s not like I’m checking where I’m going to be after the tournament.
“I’m just trying to focus on myself, and I know that if on each tournament I’ll be able to play my best tennis and I’ll be able to bring this fight spirit on each game, I’ll be able to become world number one again.
“So my focus is on myself, on improving myself as a player and as a person.
“Hopefully one day I’ll see myself on the top of the ranking.”
