Thursday, Sep 8, 2022. 7:38 PM
(Update : Thursday, Sep 8, 2022. 10:18 PM)
World No. 1 Iga Swiatek qualified for the US Open final, her third of a Grand Slam tournament, by overthrowing 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka (6th), Thursday in New York.
The 21-year-old Polish will be opposed to the Tunisian Ons Jabeur (5th), who crushed 6-1, 6-3 the French Caroline Garcia at the start of the night session.
Double winner at Roland-Garros in 2020 and in June this year, Swiatek confirms her status as a favorite of Flushing Meadows, even if she will have to be wary of the 28-year-old Tunisian, who is returning to this stage of a Major for the second time. in a row, two months after her defeat at Wimbledon against Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
Faced with Sabalenka, whom she had beaten on final scores in the three previous confrontations this year, after a defeat in 2021, the Pole this time has more difficulty in containing the power and the desire to fight the opponent, so much and so much so that she lost the first set by yielding her serve three times.
Whereupon she went for a walk in the locker room. And coming out she was no longer the same player. “Before, when I went to the bathroom, I cried. Now I’m thinking about what to do,” she said afterward.
She considerably raised her level of play in the second set and this time it was her who chained three breaks, to equalize.
Earlier Thursday night, Jabeur dominated Garcia, who had made the strongest impression so far, but was totally paralyzed by what was at stake on Thursday in New York.
Jabeur dismisses Garcia and reaches the final
The 28-year-old Tunisian reached this stage of a Grand Slam for the second time in a row, after Wimbledon in early July. She then bowed to the Kazakh Elena Rybakina.
She is the first African of the open era in the final at Flushing Meadows.
“It’s an extraordinary feeling. After Wimbledon there was a lot of pressure on me and I’m really relieved to have confirmed my results. The season on hard court had started a little badly, but I am very happy to be in the final here, ”reacted the Tunisian who had been taken out in the first round in Toronto and in the second in Cincinnati.
Jabeur is having the best season of his career, having won two of his three titles in April in Madrid, then in June in Berlin, the first dating from last year in Birmingham.
And she did not miss her New York meeting, unlike Garcia, who appeared extremely tense as soon as she entered the Arthur Ashe court, where a moment of silence was observed in tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.
The Frenchwoman was only the shadow of the flamboyant and irresistible player, interviewed for three weeks and her victory at the WTA 1000 in Cincinnati after qualifying.
“I was ready”
Returning to her best level after five years of wanderings, she discovered the context of a Major semi-final and could become the first Frenchwoman to reach the final at Flushing Meadows since Mary Pierce in 2005.
Nothing happened because not only did she accumulate unforced errors, but she also fell on a formidable opponent of accuracy and calm, who did not have to play great tennis to win in just 1:06 a.m.
Excellent in return, Jabeur converted the four break points she got. And she was also very solid in the service, leaving only one opportunity for Garcia to steal it from her, without success for the Lyonnaise who tried in the second set to raise her level and press her opponent, but insufficiently.
“It was very important to get as many serves as possible. I’m really glad she didn’t break me at the end. Mentally, I was ready, ”commented Jabeur, before projecting himself on his upcoming final.
“I hope that Iga and Aryna will play for five hours”, she had said with a smile before the other semi-final, before more seriously remembering a basic principle: “the final is not a question of tennis, you have to play it”.