Iga Swiatek topped off an incredible year by beating Ons Jabeur in the final of the US Open at Flushing Meadows on Saturday.
The 21-year-old added the US Open to the Indian Wells and Miami Open to her list of honours with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) victory.
The No. 1-ranked Swiatek cemented her status as the dominant figure in women’s tennis by triumphing at the tournament that is expected to be the last of Serena Williams’ career.
Swiatek’s victory over No. 5 Jabeur improved her record in tour-level matches to 55-7 with seven trophies in 2022. Both of those figures lead the WTA.
She also won the French Open in June and is the first woman since 2016 to collect two major titles in a season.
On Saturday, Swiatek had her first match point while leading 6-5 in the second as Jabeur served. Right before the point began, Swiatek jogged over to the sideline to change rackets — an unusual choice at that moment.
Swiatek then missed a backhand, and Jabeur pushed things to the tiebreaker and led it 5-4. But Swiatek took the last three points, and soon was down on her back, a major champ once again.
Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia, is the first African woman and first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam final and was participating in her second in a row. But she is now 0-2 at that stage being the runner-up at Wimbledon in July.
Additional reporting from Reuters
