Iga Swiatek accomplished another milestone in her remarkable 2022 season. The 21-year-old defeated Ons Jabeur in Saturday's US Open women's final to become the first Polish woman to win the competition and the first woman since Angelique Kerber in 2016 to win two majors in a year.
Swiatek, the current world No. 1, and Jabeur ranked fifth, faced each other in the first US Open women's final containing two top-10 players since 2013, according to CBS Sports.
Swiatek was quicker than Jabeur early in the match, stopping her momentum many times. Swiatek won 6-2, 7-6 (7-5) after Jabeur won six games in the second set.
Swiatek reflected on Poland's success after the match.
The New York tournament champion said: "Especially right now we have to stay united and support ourselves and stay together. I'm pretty happy that I can kind of unite people with our sport. I'm proud that tennis is getting more and more popular at home."
A Breakthrough Season
Swiatek has had a season full of successes, and her US Open victory is only the most recent. She holds the lengthiest WTA winning streak this century with 37 matches. Swiatek has won all seven finals this year. She also became the first player since Serena Williams in 2013 to surpass 10,000 WTA points.
She also became the first top-seeded woman to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 2014, and the first to win seven titles in a season since Williams.
A message from the champion, @iga_swiatek 🗣 pic.twitter.com/kTQQwFTHpR
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2022
The Pole has successfully converted her style to hard courts in 2022, winning four WTA 1000 tournaments on the surface and became just the fourth woman in history to complete the "Sunshine Double" by winning Indian Wells and Miami back-to-back.
Although, the second half of the season has seen Swiatek struggle to regain that form. Her participation in the US Open final was far from a given before the competition even began.
She also had a hard time in her semifinal match, which took more than two hours to finish. She came back from being down a set and 4-2 in the deciding set to beat sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka, according to CNN.
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The match on Saturday between Swiatek and Jabeur, a player seeking to make her own piece of history, was predicted to be "a terrific struggle" by Swiatek, the first Polish woman to compete in a US Open singles final.
Jabeur remarked, "Iga never loses finals" It'll be hard.
Iga Swiatek is one of just two women in the Open Era to win her first three Grand Slam finals in straight sets, joining Lindsay Davenport, per Tennis.com.
Swiatek is one of seven women in the Open Era to win their first three Grand Slam finals in straight sets or not, including Virginia Wade, Monica Seles, Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Naomi Osaka, and Ashleigh Barty.
Jabeur Promises To Bounce Back
Jabeur, on the other hand, appeared upset as she sat with her head in her hands as she lost in a Grand Slam final for the second time in a row.
She started slow in the match as Swiatek pounced with relentless returning to claim the opener after only 30 minutes as Jabeur only connected on 48% of her first serves in the first set, per BBC.
Even though Jabeur's serving got better in the second set, she made more unforced errors and failed to benefit from Swiatek's modest decline.
"I battled to win my first WTA championship; it took me time. I think this [winning a major] will take me time. Winning or losing is part of tennis." Jabeur said. "Accepting it and taking lessons from the finals that I didn't win is what's most essential.
She vowed to strive harder to win next time, saying "I am confident I will return to the final."
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