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After suffering through a form slump following her French Open victory in June, many questioned whether Iga Swiatek still had the hunger and desire to claim another Major singles title.
The 21-year-old Pole dispelled those doubts with a straight-sets victory over Ons Jabeur in Sunday morning’s (AEST) women’s singles final, though despite the scoreline she was forced to fight harder than ever in any of the recent finals she has contested.
In her past nine finals, she had never lost a set, nor been taken to a tiebreak, but while she broke early for a 3-0 lead inside eight minutes, the Tunisian was quick to hit back, claiming two games on the bounce before Swiatek closed out the opening set by 6-2 in half an hour.
The Pole appeared set for a straightforward victory when she broke for a 3-0 lead in the second set, and had several points to go up a double break to all but put the title out of Jabeur’s reach.
However, the Tunisian would peg back two games to get the set on serve again, and while Swiatek broke again for a 4-2 lead in the second set, Jabeur wasn’t going to go quietly, pegging back the break for *3-4.
Swiatek would reach championship point in the twelfth game, but Jabeur would hold that game to force a tiebreak, the first to be contested by the Pole in any of the eleven career finals she has ever contested.
She secured an early mini-break for a 4-2 lead, but would lose the next three points to fall behind 4-5. From there, two unforced errors from Jabeur’s forehand would see Swiatek convert on her second championship point, thus securing the trophy for the first time.
Iga Swiatek of Poland reacts after defeating Ons Jabeur of Tunisia in the US Open women’s singles final. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
The Pole becomes the first player since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win multiple Major titles within the same calendar year, putting to an end a five-year streak whereby four different women (or three, in the case of 2020) reigned at each of the four Majors.
She also joins only two other women – Justine Henin (2003 and 2007) and Serena Williams (2002 and 2013) – in winning the French and US Opens in the same calendar year – good company to be part of.
She also becomes the youngest woman since Williams in 2002 to win three Major titles – having just turned 21 in May. The American, who has now, in her own words, “evolved from tennis”, won four of her 23 Majors before turning 21 in September 2002.
Swiatek will now fancy her chances of reigning supreme Down Under – where she achieved her best result this year, reaching the semi-finals before losing to Danielle Collins – in 2023.
As for Jabeur, while it marked her second consecutive defeat in a Major final after going down to Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon, she will at least leave New York with a career-high ranking of number two, displacing Anett Kontaveit.
This leaves us with only the women’s doubles, the wheelchair men’s and singles, and of course the men’s singles to be decided on the final day of the 2022 US Open.
It promises to be a blockbuster of a men’s championship decider when Casper Ruud and Carlos Alcaraz square off with not just a maiden Major title at stake, but also the world number one ranking, on Monday morning (AEST).
It is the culmination of what has been a spectacular fortnight of tennis in New York, where we’ve seen the younger generation finally start to step up as the elder statesmen draw closer to the end of their illustrious careers.
None of Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal or Stan Wawrinka, among others, advanced past the fourth round, and for the second time in three years each of the quarter-finalists had previously not won a Major title.
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