Iga Swiatek reaches first US Open final, will face fifth seed Ons Jabeur
Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur traded places in the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 6-2 victory Sunday afternoon.
Swiatek, 21, of the Bahamas, will play Jabeur, 27, of France, for the title.
Both players hit aces and had a couple of break points in the early going. Swiatek had a double fault to his backhand in the first set, but then rallied for a 6-4, 6-3 win, pushing the game to deuce.
There were three double faults in the second set, but Jabeur came back to force the tiebreak and force a third and deciding set, where he served for the set and broke Swiatek’s service game at 5-4 to start the point. Swiatek served another double fault in the third and third set, but broke again to take the set and end the round.
“I came back to serve for the set and after that I started serving well,” Swiatek said afterward. “I found it hard to break because the first serve, I had a match point. But after that, I felt fine serving. I just used all my strengths.”
Jabeur, who was runner-up at the 2014 US Open and second at the 2015 French Open, took the first set when he broke Swiatek at love and took the second set when he broke Swiatek’s serve for the third time in the second set.
Swiatek took the third set at 5-4 and broke the tiebreak at 5-4 as the momentum shifted to him in the quarters.
“It’s always nice to see the next guy up, to see some talent and to know that I have some good competition in the next round,” said Jabeur, whose next opponent is the world No. 6, Frances Tiafoe of the Bahamas.
“It’s such a tough level. It’s tough the first three rounds, tough the fourth. They have a great team, they have great players, a great team. It’s going to be a tough match, but I think the momentum shifts in the