WHAT HAPPENED: Iga Swiatek came to New York as the consensus world No. 1. She’ll leave as the US Open champion.
The top seed captured her first US Open singles title, second Grand Slam title of 2022, and third major overall, on Saturday in Arthur Ashe Stadium with a 6-2, 7-6(5) win over No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur.
Having also won Roland Garros this spring, the 21-year-old Pole is the first woman to win two Grand Slam singles titles in the same season since Angelique Kerber triumphed at the Australian Open and US Open in 2016.
"It's hard to describe it in one sentence. But I'm just super proud of myself because it wasn't easy match, even though at the beginning I was dominating, I knew it's going to be tight and I knew that Ons is going to use any mistake that I'm going to make. I didn't want to back out," Swiatek said in victory.
"In the second set, it got really physical action and I'm happy that I got my level of energy up little bit more so I could finish and be really precise in those moments where I needed that. We played on a really good level today."
Swiatek dropped just four games to Jabeur when they met for the title in Rome in May—their last meeting before Saturday’s final—and her similarly-dominant start in Ashe seemed it would set the tone for things to come: Swiatek won 12 of the first 14 points for a 3-0 lead.
A sizzling spurt for Jabeur in the next two games—she hit five clean winners in 12 points—proved just a blip on Swiatek’s radar. Landing a staggering 90% of her first serves in the set, the top seed also broke serve twice more to wrap up the opener in exactly half an hour.
The ninth game—the first of the second set—was the first of the match to go to deuce. But back-to-back winners—two of Swiatek’s 18 for the match—got her past the threat. For a while, the second set looked like a carbon-copy of the first: Swiatek opened up a 3-0 lead, and even had three break points for 4-0, before Jabeur held serve and broke to get back to 3-2.
There, the momentum nearly shifted: Though Swiatek broke serve for a fifth time to lead 4-2, Jabeur wasn't ready to go quietly. Already the first Arab and African woman to make the US Open final, Jabeur sought to send the championship to a final set for the fifth time this decade. She won back-to-back games, had three break points for another—and with it, a chance to serve for the set at 5-4—and later denied Swiatek a championship point in the 12th game.
Something had to give in the ensuing tiebreak: Both players were unbeaten in sets to 6-6 this fortnight. In the end, what gave was Jabeur's forehand; after taking a late lead at 5-4 from 4-2 down, Jabeur misfired twice on that wing in the last three points to hand Swiatek the trophy.
"She came off really strong and put a lot of pressure on me," Jabeur said. "That didn't help. I was trying to get in the match. It was very tough, and she was playing really good at certain times. I was trying to get into the rally.
"Second set ... I had my chances, she had hers. I was just coming back, coming back. At certain times, it was kind of tough because I wish I had, like, that lead so I can continue and build on it. I know she didn't play as good as the first set at certain times, maybe I should have taken my shot.
"I have nothing to regret because I did everything possible. I wish I served little bit better today. It would have helped me a lot. Iga, how she plays in finals ... It's very enough to beat her. I will keep positive and work on the things that was missing today."
WHAT IT MEANS: Swiatek long ago erased any doubt of her credentials for the WTA's season-ending Player of the Year award. The US Open title is her seventh in 2022, a season where she also posted a 37-match winning streak—the longest this century. It's the 10th title of her young career so far; since losing the first final of her career in 2018, she's won 10 straight—all in straight sets.
Swiatek is leaving the US Open with the trophy in just her fourth main-draw appearance at the tournament. She lost in Round 2 in her 2019 debut; reached Round 3 in 2020 before losing to eventual finalist Victoria Azarenka; and was beaten in Round 4 last year. She lost just one set en route to winning her second Roland Garros title in May; to triumph in Queens, she dropped just two. She went 21-2 in the four Grand Slams this year.
"At the beginning of the season I realized that maybe I can have some good results on WTA events. I also made it to semifinal of Australian Open, but I wasn't sure if I was on the level yet to win actually a Grand Slam, especially on US Open where the surface is so fast," Swiatek said.
"It's something that I wasn't expecting for sure. It's also like a confirmation for me that sky is the limit. I'm proud, also surprised little bit, just happy that I was able to do that."
She was already the first woman to reach the Roland Garros and US Open finals in the same year since Serena Williams did it in 2013, and the first No. 1 seed to play for the US Open title since Williams in 2014.
MATCH POINT: Swiatek, aged 21 years and 103 days, is the 10th-youngest champion at the US Open since 2000. Already the first Polish woman to reach the quarterfinals, she's the 21st No. 1 seed to win the US Open women's singles title in the Open Era.
