NEW YORK (AP) — Aryna Sabalenka was on a boat. She was lounging by the pool. The reigning U.S. Open champion was anywhere, it seemed, except a tennis court.

When the professional tours moved to North America for the hard-court tournaments ahead of the trip to New York — where the second round wraps up Thursday — the top-ranked Sabalenka instead was on the Greek island of Mykonos.

“It was very important, because the season had been really intense at that point, and I felt like I was really low (on) energy,” said Sabalenka, who skipped an event in Montreal in late July. “I was motivated, of course, but it felt like everything was going really tough. I couldn’t show my best, and the body was really weak. I felt like, ‘OK, I need to take a little break and a little recharge and come back

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