Forgotten the lackluster summer of Iga Swiatek (third round at Wimbledon, Toronto and Cincinnati). Because in the final, the Pole does not lose, that’s how it is. And it was not Ons Jabeur who might undermine this statistic (10 wins in 10 finals). Often in difficulty in this US Open, the world number 1 was able to raise her level in this final to win her third Major at the age of 21, the first off clay following two Roland-Garros (2020 and 2022).
The boss of the circuit suffocated an opponent who nevertheless had arguments to destabilize her. Aggressive and on the court as soon as possible, Swiatek above all admired the perfection of her transition between attacking shots and defensive shots. So much so that the latter, if they were not winners, allowed him to immediately re-establish himself in the exchange.
Under these conditions, Ons Jabeur was never able to shake it up permanently. Perfect in the footwork, Swiatek made the effort on the low balls and without effect of Jabeur. On the contrary, her topspin considerably disturbed the Tunisian, who was not comfortable as long as you have to hit above the hips.
Jabeur misses his start to the match
Nervous, the Tunisian missed her start and Swiatek rushed into the breach to quickly break away 3-0. Immediately, it was she who dictated the rhythm in the exchanges. With enough time to prepare her strikes, she found the areas that were bothering Jabeur. The latter rebelled to erase a break and come back to 3-2, but it was only a flash in the pan. Without difficulty, Swiatek completed the first set in half an hour.
The second set looked set to be a carbon copy of the first, with Swiatek once more coming away 3-0. But perhaps caught up in the stakes, the Polish tensed up and her ball suddenly came out of her racket less well. Jabeur took the opportunity to get back into the game. And how ! She broke and came back to 4-4. The dynamics of the meeting had changed with a Jabeur on the initiative and a Swiatek obliged to be very solid in defense to stay in contact.
Swiatek timid, Jabeur revolted
She set the example in the ninth game, which lasted more than eight minutes, where she saved three break points. Jabeur had certainly made three faults on these balls, but Swiatek’s defense had something to do with it. Almost once morest the run of play, the number one got a first match point, but her backhand went out of bounds. It was going to have to go through a tie-break.
Like the set, Jabeur was the most enterprising, but also the least precise. While she had made the entry mini-break, two big mistakes allowed the Polish to go back in front (2-1). Jabeur didn’t give in and went back on the attack once morest a very shy Swiatek. She even passed in front (5-4) following a new backhand fault from her opponent. But on the next shot, the Polish unleashed a marvelous forehand along the line. The last two points were concluded by faults from Jabeur who might not prevent Swiatek from celebrating his third Grand Slam title.