Aryna Sabalenka sends warning to rivals ahead of Novak Djokovic partnership for US Open mixed doubles - 'We're chasing the title'
Published 03/08/2026 at 12:34 GMT+1
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Aryna Sabalenka, recharged and ready to go after a short summer break, is looking to put her Wimbledon disappointment behind her by winning the US Open mixed doubles title with Novak Djokovic. Sabalenka was knocked out at the All England Club by Naomi Osaka in one of the shocks of the tournament.
'We are chasing the title' - Sabalenka sets her sights on mixed doubles glory with Djokovic
Video credit: SNTV
The world No. 1 has teamed up with Djokovic for the mixed doubles at Flushing Meadows, scheduled for August 25 and 26 before the start of the singles tournaments in New York City.
And the 28-year-old is "excited" by the prospect of taking to the court with 39-year-old Djokovic, who has won a record 24 Grand Slams in men's tennis.
"I hope everyone's going to be healthy this time," Sabalenka told reporters at a press conference. "And I'm pretty excited. I think it's going be fun.
"And playing with Novak is always fun. And mixed doubles, I played it once in my life. I mean, on the Grand Slams. And we are going full.
"You know, we're chasing the only title. That's our goal, I believe. So it's going to be fun and intense, I believe."
Sabalenka says he ”suffered” physically and mentally during the summer swing.
However, the Belarusian is refreshed after a break on the Greek island of Mykonos.
"Yeah, I think the rest was much needed," said Sabalenka. "I suffered during the summer swing a lot, like with my body, mentally also a little bit.
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"It [a break] was much needed, and after Mykonos I spent there, I don't know, five, six days, maybe not even that. I felt much, much better.
"I couldn't wait to get back on court, and start working towards my goals for this swing. So it was much-needed. It took me a week [to recover]."
Zverev slams 'nonsense' demands
Alexander Zverev says top names cannot be forced to play in Masters tournaments after the National Bank Open in Montreal got underway without Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and the injured Carlos Alcaraz.
Canadian officials have called for sanctions over a series of late withdrawals ahead of the US Open.
However, world No. 2 and Wimbledon finalist Zverev has criticised the lengthy ATP Masters 1000 events.
Zverev said: "You think Novak will care if he gets a bigger bonus? The guy has, if I will have to guess, north of 400 million [dollars] in his bank account.
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'I don't think he cares' - Zverev responds to Djokovic's Canadian Open withdrawal
Video credit: SNTV
"So I'm not sure he will care about 50,000, more or less. I don't think he cares about his ranking either. I honestly don't think so.
"But what do you want? You want us to drop in ranking when we don't play? Honestly, if everything was like [it was], and we would play one week Masters event, yeah you can talk about it.
"But if you are forcing us to be away for two and half, three weeks during Grand Slams, and the same then goes for Masters events, you can't force us to play. Sorry, it's nonsense."
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