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Consistency pays for Swiatek, Jabeur
It has been a crazy year for women's tennis but two players have stood tall through it and they will meet in the US Open final.
The wave of unpredictability in women’s tennis has hit in various shape and forms this season: from Ash Barty retiring at 25 to Serena Williams evolving away at 40, from 23rd-ranked Russian-born Kazakh Elena Rybakina claiming the Wimbledon crown to Caroline Garcia becoming the first qualifier ever to win a WTA 1000 title in Cincinnati.
It recedes at the shore of the year-ending Grand Slam.
The US Open women’s singles final will be contested between the season’s best two players, statistically and otherwise. Iga Swiatek, rallying from a set down to edge Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the semi-final, has been top ranked since April. Ons Jabeur, flaunting her all-round game in a straight-sets win over Garcia, will jump to second next week.
They’ve been No 1 and 2 in the quantity of match wins on the WTA tour this year and the race to the season-ending WTA finals, Swiatek being the leader in both. Swiatek has collected six titles this season including the French Open. Jabeur has won two and made three finals including the Wimbledon.
The Pole and the Tunisian—first from their respective countries to compete for US Open glory—are the only two women this year to feature in a couple of Grand Slam finals. They’ve played each other four times before, splitting into a neat 2-2 with Swiatek sweeping the last meeting for the 2022 Rome claycourt title.
“She's a really solid player,” Swiatek said of Jabeur. “Second in the (WTA finals) race right now, Wimbledon final—shows how much progress she's made.
"(Jabeur) has a different game style than most of the players. She has a great touch. All these things mixed up, she's just a tough opponent. It's going to be a great battle.”
Especially if the trailblazing Tunisian turns up the way she did against the dangerous Garcia in Thursday’s first semi-final. The 28-year-old did not face a single break point, won an impressive 83% points on first serve, hit 23 winners and used the slice and variations to clinical effect in a 6-1, 6-3 rout of the Frenchwoman.
The night’s other tussle at the Arthur Ashe Stadium was in contrast a match of fluctuating quality and momentum.
In an error-strewn start by Swiatek and Sabalenka, with both struggling to settle into their serving rhythm, there were three break exchanges in the first five games as the Russian scurried ahead. The Pole could neither find the pace nor direction behind her serve. The hard-hitting Sabalenka, last year’s semi-finalist, began dictating play with her groundstrokes and delivering winners on a consistent basis to go one up.
The world No 1 took a bathroom break, using the time to problem-solve, she would say later. The solution? “Just get more first serves in,” Swiatek added.
Right on cue, she came out winning eight straight points, breaking Sabalenka to love and backing it up by holding to love. Swiatek was not just more aggressive with her serves but also the court movement, springing inside the baseline often in rallies. She won 82% points on first serves in the second set (up from 57% in the first) and attacked Sabalenka’s susceptible second serves a lot more. Swiatek got another break as the Russian’s double fault (3) and unforced error (15) count mounted in a set that fast slid away from her.
Off went Sabalenka for a reset this time, and returned to earn the early break in the decider with Swiatek’s service effectiveness and striking efficiency plummeting again. The Pole did raise it—a brilliant backhand passing winner on the move, for example—to get back in it. Sabalenka though wasn't dropping either, some deft play to complement the destructive force keeping her ahead at 4-2.
However, those misplaced first serves and mishit baseline shots broke the under-the-pump Sabalenka serve to love in the eighth game. That was enough an opening for Swiatek to break in, the world no 1 winning 16 of the last 20 points to slam the door on Sabalenka who has now been stopped thrice at the semi-final of a Slam.
For the two-time French Open champion, it's her first final in a Slam and on a surface she doesn’t have a natural liking for. “I was really happy that I was just able to play in such a solid way,” Swiatek said. “I had to keep my focus and overcome these obstacles throughout the tournament.”
A final Ons obstacle looms.
