The US Open women’s singles championship final will take place on Saturday night in New York between world number one Iga Swiatek and Tunisian Ons Jabeur.
Swiatek leads the rankings by a significant margin, but Jabeur will move up to second after making her second straight major final, moving up from fifth. The Tunisian hopes to become the first Grand Slam champion from either Africa or the Arab world.
Sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka was defeated by Poland’s Swiatek, who rallied from a set down and a 4-2 deficit in the decisive set, while Caroline Garcia was defeated by Jabeur, who dropped four games.
Although Swiatek has not been in the same form that helped her to a 37-match winning streak earlier this season, she has fought and performed at her peak when called upon.
“I’m pretty happy that even though maybe I wasn’t feeling 100 per cent perfectly from the beginning of the tournament, I was still able to get better and better and to play a really solid game,” said the two-time French Open champion.
“On clay, I feel just perfect. But for me actually winning when I’m not feeling perfectly, it’s the best kind of thing and best feeling. The satisfaction is pretty big.”
Swiatek, 21, is looking forward to meeting again with Jabeur, saying: “She has a different game style than most of the players. She has great touch. She’s just a tough opponent. I think it’s going to be a great battle.”
The Tunisian is prepared to draw lessons from her Wimbledon performance, in which she defeated Elena Rybakina in three sets despite taking the opening set.
It feels more real merely to be in the finals once more, according to Jabeur, who provided excellent support for that in New York. I was sort of just living the dream at Wimbledon, and I couldn’t believe it. Even after the game, I was just going about my business without realising that I had just accomplished an unbelievable feat.
“But now I hope I’m getting used to it. I’m just happy the fact that I backed up the results in Wimbledon and people are not really surprised I’m in the finals.
“I feel very positive about this one. The most important thing is not to regret, because I’m going to give it all on this one. Even if this one is not going to happen, I’m very sure that another one will come.”
In their four prior matches, Jabeur and Swiatek are locked at 2-2, but the Pole won their lone match this year in the final held in Rome in May.
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