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Iga Swiatek to meet Ons Jabeur in US Open final

Iga Swiatek to meet Ons Jabeur in US Open final
© Reuters
Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur prepare to face off in the US Open final after defeating Aryna Sabalenka and Caroline Garcia in their respective semi-final battles.

Number one seed Iga Swiatek and fifth seed Ons Jabeur set up a mouthwatering US Open final with semi-final triumphs over Aryna Sabalenka and Caroline Garcia respectively.

Jabeur had already made history as the first African woman to reach the final four as Flushing Meadows, and it took the Tunisian just over an hour to defeat France's Garcia in straight sets.

The Wimbledon runner-up pulled off some devastating serves to keep her counterpart at bay - coming up with eight aces and taking all four of the break point opportunities presented to her.

Jabeur only posted a 45% success rate from first serves compared to 72% for Garcia - who only pulled off two aces - but she won 83% of points on her first serve as Garcia only managed a paltry 48%.

Also hitting 21 winners on the day, the 28-year-old came through a mammoth 12th game - the only one in the match that went to deuce - but she crucially held serve before seeing out a dominant win.

Jabeur collapsed in ecstasy on the court at the Arthur Ashe Stadium after pulling off that 6-1 6-3 win, and she affirmed that her serves were crucial to getting the job done.

"[They were] So important. She comes in the court and puts a lot of pressure on my second serves. I'm really glad she didn't break me in the end - it would have been really tough to go to 5-4" Jabeur said in her on-court interview.

"After Wimbledon, a lot of pressure on me. I'm really, really relieved that I backed up my result. I'm very glad I made it to the finals here."

Iga Swiatek celebrates reaching the US Open final on September 8, 2022© Reuters

Seeking to win her first Grand Slam title and go one better than she did at Wimbledon, Jabeur will face off against world number one Swiatek, who came from a set down to defeat Belarus' Sabalenka.

With both players struggling on their second serves, break points were aplenty, but Swiatek recovered from a slow start to get the job done 3-6 6-1 6-4.

The Polish top seed was broken to love in the third game of the match before breaking back straight away, but Sabalenka then got the edge in a lengthy fifth game and broke once again to take the first set.

The second set would be characterised by a number of tensely-fought deuce battles, but Swiatek did not pass up a single opportunity to break Sabalenka as she won four games in a row to force a decider.

Twice Sabalenka found herself two games up in the third set at 2-0 and 4-2, but Swiatek came roaring back and once again strung together a four-game winning streak at the end of the match to advance to the final.

"I feel like Aryna served pretty well today, better than on our other matches. [Losing the first two games of the third set] kind of helped me to get back on the ground and realize I still have a lot of expectations even though the second set was pretty dominant," Swiatek said on the court.

"Aryna made it difficult today, for sure. I felt like she was serving pretty solid. It was hard to come back in the third, but I'm pretty happy that I did."

Swiatek is aiming to win her third major title after clinching the French Open crowns in 2020 and 2022, and the 21-year-old's previous best finish at the US Open was a fourth-round exit in 2021.

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Written by
Ben Knapton

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