Aryna Sabalenka had a wonderful North American hard-court campaign last year, winning the title at Cincinnati before clinching the big one at the US Open. Although she won a few more titles after that, the Grand Slams haven’t been grand for her in 2025. Last year, she won two major titles (including the AO), but this year she was defeated in the finals of the AO and French Open. At Wimbledon, she yet again missed out on her chance by losing to America’s Amanda Anisimova by 4-6,6-4,4-6 in the SF. What’s next for the world number one, now?
This year, Aryna Sabalenka has contest in seven finals so far and has won three titles out of those attempts (Brisbane, Miami, and Madrid). So, there has been plenty of tennis already for the Belarusian this season. Owing to that hectic schedule, Sabalenka has now decided to pull out her name from the WTA event in Canada. She cited fatigue as the sole reason behind this withdrawal. In a press release, Sabalenka said, “I’m looking forward to kicking off the North American hard-court swing, but to give myself the best chance for success this season, I’ve decided it’s in my best interest to skip Montreal.”
During her announcement, she also revealed that she will miss her amazing Canadian fans and claimed that she’s looking forward to returning to this event in the next season. Reacting to this latest withdrawal, tournament director Valerie Tetreault expressed her disappointment, saying, “We’re obviously disappointed that Aryna won’t be with us this year.” Other than Sabalenka, her “soulmate“, Paula Badosa has also withdrawn her name from this tournament due to an injury. As a result of these withdrawals, it has now opened the doors for players like America’s Caty McNally and Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima.
Two players have withdrawn from the 2025 National Bank Open: Aryna Sabalenka, due to fatigue, and Paula Badosa, due to an injury.
Following these changes, Caty McNally and Moyuka Uchijima will now enter the main draw. pic.twitter.com/nVPHvjVthu
— Omnium Banque Nationale (@OBNmontreal) July 16, 2025
The 23-year-old, McNally, is currently ranked 135 in the world. But she recently won a title at the WTA 125K Newport, US. Guess who she defeated in the final? Well, in the title-decider match, she defeated the 2025 HSBC Championships winner, Tatjana Maria, by 2-6,6-4,6-2. So, this is a great opportunity for the American!
As things stand, Aryna Sabalenka will probably be seen yet again in action at the Cincinnati Open, which is scheduled to take place in early August. So, that’s going to be her real preparatory stage ahead of her title defense campaign at the 2025 US Open. What are Sabalenka’s chances at this year’s US Open, though?
Former ATP pro analyzes Aryna Sabalenka’s chance at the 2025 US Open
This year, Aryna Sabalenka has managed to put up a win-loss record of 47-9 this season. Despite her SF exit at SW19, Aryna Sabalenka still has a lead of 1400 points in the year-end race for number one against the Wimbledon champion, Iga Swiatek. Following her defeat at Wimbledon, Sabalenka admitted the reasons why she keeps losing in the latter stages of the major tournaments in 2025.
In her post-match press conference, she claimed that she thinks in these matches she has to constantly remind herself how strong she is and how brave she has to be to win these battles. According to Sabalenka, she needs to be more confident in her shots, decisions, and bring more trust in her game. “It seems like in all of these three tough defeats in the Slams, for me, I wasn’t trusting myself. And every time that I remind myself ‘you have to trust’, ‘you can do literally anything on the court, every time I show my best tennis. So I think maybe with the US Open left, I just have to trust myself and go for it,” said Sabalenka. What else did she say after the match, though?
Sabalenka is now aiming to bring out better results at New York, but can she beat the likes of Iga Swiatek and others and put herself yet again as the real contender for the majors? According to the former American tennis player, John Isner, “All credit to Iga, but I think I am probably going to ride with Sabalenka as the favourite for the US Open. I think she has proven on all surfaces she can play so big and dominant and blow women off the court in some of these matches with her aggressive play.“
However, having said that, he also said Swiatek is not too far behind at all. Who will be your pick, though, at the 2025 US Open?
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