By Tony Fairbairn
- Iga Swiatek [1] v Aryna Sabalenka [6]
- Ons Jabeur [5] v Caroline Garcia [17]
NEW YORK, USA – Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur are one win away from the final but to get there they have to overcome in-form opposition on Women’s semi-finals day.
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Iga Swiatek [1] v Aryna Sabalenka [6] | H2H: Swiatek leads 3-1
Iga Swiatek has not played her best tennis but has still remained the player to beat at the US Open with her win over Jessica Pegula once again showing her dominance on the tour. Swiatek aims to win her third Grand Slam title and first outside of Roland Garros to cap off what has been a remarkable season. Standing in Swiatek’s way is Aryna Sabalenka who has beaten the likes of Danielle Collins and Karolina Pliskova to reach the last four and is playing the best tennis she has played this season.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Iga Swiatek [1] v Aryna Sabalenka [6] | H2H: Swiatek leads 3-1 |
| US Open 2022 | New York, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $705,000 |
| Second on Arthur Ashe Stadium (01:30 Friday Morning BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Swiatek has dominated the WTA tour this season but has had to show a different side of her in New York as she has dug in deep to find victories. The world number one’s victory over Pegula and Jule Niemeier have been typical examples of this as she chases her third Grand Slam title.
Standing in Swiatek’s way is Sabalenka who has had an underwhelming season but has clicked into gear at just the right time. The Belarusian has mixed consistent power with precision as she now stands one victory away from her maiden Grand Slam final.
After her win over Pegula, Swiatek talked about using her natural instinct and how happy she is about where her game is at.
“I feel like it just clicked,” Swiatek admitted to the WTA website.
“I was able today to use my intuition a little bit more. I didn’t force myself to do every step right, all this technical stuff that I’ve been working on. It was more natural today. I was able to focus on just more basic stuff. That was nice because I didn’t have thousands of things to improve in my head.”
As for Sabalenka she praised her serve after the match and admitted that Thursday’s semi-final will be tough.
“I think I start really well, and the first set was really high level for me and put a lot of pressure on her,” Sabelenka told the WTA website.
“First set was really great. In the second set, I knew she will kind of trying to come back and she will do better. I just tried to hold my serve and try to put her under pressure on her serve. Semi-final, it’s going to be tough. I’m ready for another fight. I have to stay focused on myself.”
Swiatek will look to use her mental resolve and new-found aggression to neutralise Sabalenka’s attacking game. Meanwhile the Belarusian will look to keep up her aggressive hard-hitting style while continuing to produce stability on serve.
This should be a good match and Swiatek will need to play much better to have a chance of winning with Sabalenka mentally and physically improving all the time. However Swiatek’s mental resolve and confidence should see her through to another Grand Slam final.
Prediction: Swiatek in three sets.
Ons Jabeur [5] v Caroline Garcia [17] | H2H: Jabeur leads 2-0
Ons Jabeur has one again been impressive at a Grand Slam having cruised through matches and also came through the tough ones with mental fortitude. Now the Tunisian looks to reach her second consecutive Grand Slam final and be on the cusp of achieving her life-long goal. Standing in Jabeur’s way is the in-form Caroline Garcia who is on a 13 match winning streak after defeating Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals. Now Garcia looks to live up to her potential and finally reach a Grand Slam singles final.
H2H & Match Fundamentals
| Ons Jabeur [5] v Caroline Garcia [17] | H2H: Jabeur leads 2-0 |
| US Open 2022 | New York, USA |
| Hard (O) | Prize Money: $705,000 |
| Second on Arthur Ashe Stadium (01:30 Friday Morning BST) | Amazon Prime Video <– Sign up for trial |
Jabeur’s win over Ajla Tomljanovic was symbolic of the Tunisian’s grit, determination and all-round tactical dominance. The fifth seed is now one victory away from her second consecutive Grand Slam final as she looks to achieve her goal.
Standing in Jabeur’s way is Garcia who has over the last few months shown her confidence by claiming a title on three different surfaces. Now the Frenchwoman looks to love out her potential and cap off a terrific last few months in style.
After her quarter-final victory Jabeur said that she believes in herself but admitted the match was emotionally frustrating.
“I believe in myself after Wimbledon,” Jabeur told the WTA website.
“I know that I have it in me to win a [major] final. And here I am in the semi-finals. Emotionally it was kind of tough to manage the frustration. I think I’m going to be fired from my job, as ‘Minister of Happiness.’ I want to apologise for my behaviour.”
As for Garcia she knows that the path to success is clear and is looking forward to the challenge of overcoming nerves.
“The path is very clear right now, which direction I have to go, under stress, under pressure,” Garcia told the WTA website.
“I’m just trying to follow this path. I mean, to have nerves, it’s normal. That means you care about it. You play tennis because of the passion, because of the emotions it brings you. So it also drives you to keep practicing, to go forward.”
Jabeur will look to make things difficult for Garcia by throwing her off her game with lots of spins and depths. While Garcia will look to use her recent confidence to serve well and play consistently aggressive in order to dictate play. This will be a competitive with variety going up against consistency as both players have the belief to see them into the final. However Jabeur’s recent play on pressure moments gives her the slight edge into this fascinating match-up.
Prediction: Jabeur in three sets.
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