Previewing the Women’s Final

09/09/2022 Previewing the Women’s Final

By: Matthew Cahill

The Final for the Women’s US Open is set: Świątek vs. Jabeur

From incredible upsets to an icon retiring, and even a five-hour match, the 2022 US Open has been an amazing Grand Slam thus far. The women’s tournament concludes this Saturday with a matchup that should definitely be on par with all of the amazing tennis we’ve seen these last few weeks.

 

How Jabeur Reached the Final

Ons Jabeur has had a relatively easy run through the US Open dropping only 1 set along her way to the finals. Her latest victim was the red-hot Caroline Garcia who had been playing the best tennis of her career while putting together her deepest run in a Grand Slam, which included a 13-match winning streak. But in this semifinals, it was all Jabeur as Garcia seemed to have run out of steam and was unable to put up much of a fight. Garcia was broken four times and never got close to even getting a chance at breaking Jabeur’s serve. In just one hour and six minutes, Jabeur dismantled Garcia in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, and became the first African woman to participate in a final at the US Open in the professional era.

 

How Świątek Reached the Final

Iga Świątek’s road to the finals started off relatively easy as she cruised through the first three rounds in straight sets each. However, the last three matches she’s played have been tougher with two of them being 3-set comeback wins. In the world number one’s semifinal match against Aryna Sabalenka, Świątek had to dig deep and fight to make her comeback. After losing the first set 3-6 in which she was broken three times, Świątek quickly erased any doubt with a dominant 6-1 second set. The third set looked to become a back-and-forth affair before Sabalenka jumped out to a 4-2 lead. Once again Świątek stormed back and claimed the next 4 games to win the set 6-4, and reach her first US Open finals.

The series record stands tied at 2-2, with Świątek winning their last match at the 2022 Rome Masters in a 6-2, 6-3 straight set win. This is the first time, since 2013, that the US Open final will feature the top two women in the season race standings (with Jabeur’s run in the US Open, she will overtake the #2 spot in the world, even though she is ranked #5 in this tournament).

 

Additional Storylines

Yahoo!: Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur set Final Between World’s Best Players of 2022

Eurosport: How Racquet Change Sparked Iga Świątek win Over Jessica Pegula at US Open

 

Photo: Robert Prange / Getty Images