No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 57 Naomi Osaka and former professionals Andre Agassi and Mardy Fish take the court for friendly matches in Las Vegas.
The entertainment capital of the world had the top tennis players from multiple generations compete at The MGM Rewards Slam. The event featured No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka, No. 57 Naomi Osaka and former professionals Andre Agassi and Mardy Fish.
A mixed doubles match began the night at Michelob ULTRA Arena. Agassi and Sabalenka teamed up against Fish and Osaka. The friendly competition showed just how long it’s been for the men to play amongst top athletes again. The women didn’t hold back.
Agassi even said, “You’re making me so nervous Naomi,” before she served a blazer at him. But Agassi succumbed to his nerves, pulling out the win with teammate Sabalenka.
The women took the court for the main event– a singles match for the Lion’s Cup. This isn’t the first time Osaka and Sabalenka have faced each other. Back in 2018, Osaka beat Sabalenka at the US Open in the Round of 16.
Before taking the court, Sabalenka said, “I think I’m just going to bring power,” in her efforts to beat Osaka.
And so the match began.
Sabalenka took the win in set one, 6-4. Osaka was struggling at the service line, committing many faults. Sabalenka had some faults of her own, joking with the ref that the technology had to be wrong. She used her usual powerful forehand swing to win many points and pulled out a couple of unexpected short shots to get ahead.
Osaka had a huge comeback in the eighth set, where she won three straight serves to claim the victory. Sabalenka didn’t let her gloat long as she shut out Osaka in the ninth set.
Set ten came with a surprise. The ladies each pulled fans from around the stadium to compete in their place. Osaka chose a ball boy working the event, and Sabalenka chose a girl from the audience. The two dueled against the pros and each other. Their points counted towards the set, and Sabalenka won the match.
Match two was another Sabalenka win of 6-4. She had fewer fault serves after finding her rhythm. That and her consistency in powerful forehand shots were the skills that brought her to victory. Osaka had sneaky shots to the corners to win most of her points. However, the jumbotron became an obstacle as she had to redo two consecutive points due to the ball hitting it. The players again brought the same fans to the court to help finish the final set.
Sabalenka was awarded the Lion’s Cup Trophy by the President and COO of Aria and Vdara and Chief Public Affairs Officer Ayesha Molino.
