What a night that was for Polish tennis fans! After over two hours of a fierce fight against the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Świątek got her ticket for the US Open final. 

Sabalenka played her best tennis in the first set, regularly moving forward to the net. She managed to break the Pole and seal the deal in fashion (6-3). 

The beginning of the second set started well for Iga, who quickly broke and led 2-0. Despite some resistance from the Belarusian here and there, the world number 1 set the record straight with authority (6-1). 

The wrestling reached its peak in the middle of the third set. Both players fought shoulder to shoulder like lions. Eventually, it is the Varsovian who managed to break and finish the job after an extraordinary effort (6-4). 

https://twitter.com/iga_swiatek/status/1568117382228369408?s=20&t=R-r9SwS3jEbD3ctSawyUEw

Iga Świątek will need a similar strength of character on Saturday to defeat a rising star of the WTA tour in the final at Flushing Meadows, namely the Tunisian Ons Jabeur. The latter brutally interrupted the French Caroline Garcia winning streak, who had just won 13 matches in a row. 

We have a Top-5 matchup for the women's title! pic.twitter.com/l9iVzUOw8g

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 9, 2022

With more than 4,000 in front of the Estonian Anett Kontaveit in the WTA ranking, Iga will remain comfortably seated in her number 1 seat no matter the outcome of the tournament, at least until the beginning of the 2023 season.

Image: Twitter (@iga_swiatek)

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen