Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur entered Arthur Ashe Stadium as the two best players in the world, the ones who have outperformed the rest of the field this year. Yet by the end of the match, the reality was much simpler. Jabeur gave all she could, she forced her way back into the match from the verge of a crushing defeat, but Swiatek remains the singular dominant force in the sport.
After navigating her various struggles through the summer and the tournament, the 21-year-old played with total freedom with the title on the line and then held off an incredible late surge from Jabeur, holding on to win the US Open for the first time in her career with a tense, quality, 6-2, 7-6 (5) win.
With her victory, Swiatek has become the first woman to win two grand slam titles in a year since Angelique Kerber in 2016, after winning the French Open earlier in the season. The Pole is now joint fourth among active players for total grand slams, with three in total. She has now earned 10,365 ranking points, a distinction only Serena Williams has achieved since 2013.
Since her 37-match, six-tournament winning streak came to an end at the hands of Alizé Cornet in the third round of Wimbledon, it has taken some effort for Swiatek to re‑establish her hold over the tour. She had arrived in New York with a 6-4 record over the summer. But when it mattered in New York, she was ready. Swiatek twice recovered from a set down and trailed 4-2 against Aryna Sabalenka in the deciding set of her semi-final.
As has always been the case with Swiatek in finals, she initially played with freedom despite the title being on the line. It was instantly clear this was a different level to anything she had produced earlier in the tournament.
She was sharp, prowling from inside the baseline and attacking slowly with full commitment in a way that she has not done since the final game of the French Open final. Swiatek opened with an easy service hold, slamming a backhand down-the-line winner to take it, and then she launched herself into Jabeur’s service game, quickly establishing a 3-0 lead.
Swiatek’s searing start initially pulled out the very best in Jabeur, who responded with a blazing return game of four winners and retrieved the break. But the pressure that Swiatek imposed on the Wimbledon runner-up was relentless and suffocating.
Thanks to Swiatek’s defence, the court seemed so narrow for the Tunisian whenever she had the upper hand, yet she was also under constant pressure. Swiatek attacked with her destructive weapons from both wings and all parts of the court.
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She forced her 28-year-old opponent to play at her limit and do so consistently, and the Tunisian began to spray errors as she tried to force her best level from herself. But Jabeur never stopped fighting. She trailed 2-6, 0-3, 15-40, yet she kept her head high. She soon found big serves and growing trust in her forehand. She then began to dig into Swiatek’s service games, imposing pressure on her second serve. Bit by bit, her forehand began to land its blows and push Swiatek back, and she soon got on her head.
Having pulled herself from the brink, throughout the second set Jabeur had her chances. She generated three break points at 4-4 as her spirit de ella brought Arthur Ashe Stadium to full voice, including ample screams during points.
After the momentum shifted again and Swiatek steadied herself, she forced a match point on Jabeur’s serve at 6-5. Jabeur erased it with a first serve and winning inside-out forehand, and as she held she drew a standing ovation from the crowd. In the end, Swiatek was more composed in the tiebreak and after leading 5-4 on her serve, Jabeur gave up errors under pressure to finally let go.
There are many ways to underscore this incredible season that Swiatek is enjoying, which she had begun as ranked ninth in the world. She is 55-7 through the season, 8-1 against top 10 players, her only defeat to her predecessor of ella at No 1, Ash Barty.
Swiatek has won 10 finals in a row, winning all 20 sets and smothering opponents exactly as she did here. She had conceded a total of 32 games in the nine previous finals, an average of 3.6 games conceded. Jabeur pushed her far more than anyone else, yet the champion still had the composure to see it through.
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Hewett and Reid’s winning run at Flushing Meadows ends
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Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid’s winning run in wheelchair doubles at the US Open came to an end with a final defeat by Martin De La Puente and Nicolas Peifer. Hewett and Reid had won the title every year since 2017 but were unable to make it six in a row, falling 4-6 7-5 (10-6) to Spaniard De La Puente and France’s Peifer. Reid was playing despite being forced to retire from his first-round singles match against De La Puente because of injury. Hewett has another chance at silverware in the men’s singles final on Sunday, when he will attempt to stop Japan’s Shingo Kunieda from completing the calendar grand slam. Top seed Ben Bentram became the first boys’ singles wheelchair grand slam champion, defeating fellow British player Dahnon Ward 6-4 6-1. BP Mean
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism