The focus shifted onto the Iga Swiatek forehand. Ons Jabeur ripped a flat cross court onto the right wing of the Pole. And then another. And another. It was a change in strategy from the Tunisian, to take the ball away from Swiatek’s steadier backhand – which had wreaked havoc in the previous few points.
Jabeur was serving at 30-40, 2-3 in the second set of the US Open women’s singles final and facing a break.
But the strategy worked. As Jabeur moved inch by inch closer to the baseline, and then inside it, to take away time from Swiatek in that multiple-shot forehand cross-court, the error came and the break point was saved.
Across the net, Swiatek took note of the tactic. On the very next point, the top seed bludgeoned a few forehand strokes before finishing neatly with a forehand inside-out winner that fell just inside the line. She would go on to win that game. And later, complete a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win over Jabeur to win her third Grand Slam title.
US Open 2022: Iga Swiatek defeats Ons Jabeur to win third Major – ‘The No 1 reigns in New York’
Lift it up, Iga! 😗🏆#USOpen | @iga_swiatek pic.twitter.com/cBwcXhaxYs
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2022
But this was a Grand Slam run…
