World No. 5 and the 5th seed at the 2022 US Open, Ons Jabeur, had to suffer yet another heartbreak in a Grand Slam final as World No. 1 and top-seeded Iga Swiatek won the finals ahead of the Tunisian handing her second successive Grand Slam finals defeat this season.
Swiatek won the match 6-2, 7-6(5) in 1 hour and 51 minutes. The Pole looked to race away with the match after a 30-minute first set but Ons fought back valiantly saving 1 championship point to force a tiebreaker in the second set but couldn’t force a third set any further.
“I am just relieved I can inspire more and more generations,”: Ons Jabeur
Jabeur was looking for her first major after having suffered a loss in the 2022 Wimbledon Championship finals but the wait will continue for her as Iga was the better player on the night despite Ons making things interesting in the second set having gone 0-3 down at the beginning.
Jabeur remained composed however after her defeat and went to the other side of the court to hug Iga who had collapsed on the floor after winning the championship point and showed her grace in defeat during her on-court interview as well.
“Just wanna thank the crowd for cheering me up. I really tried but Iga didn’t make it easy for me. She deserved to win today. I don’t like her very much right now but it’s okay. Just amazing two weeks with you and backing up my final in Wimbledon, I know I am gonna keep working hard.
“We gonna get the title sometime soon. It really means a lot, I tried to push myself to do more and getting the major is one of the goals and hopefully I can more and more generations, that’s the goal like how I got inspired by so many champions, like Martina (Navratilova) here.
“She inspired us and thank you for being here. Arantxa (Sanchez Vicario). Thank you to my team, they have always been pushing me. Issam, Karim, my management team, my friends, Melanie, the President of the Federation, we want more and more kids coming here hopefully.
“I am just relieved that I can inspire more and more and this is just the beginning of so many big things,” said Jabeur in her on-court interview before getting the runner-up’s trophy from the President of the USTA.
Ons can however be proud of her run as she rises 3 places to become the new World No. 2 when the rankings are updated, a position she had solidified by reaching the finals and now holds a lead of more than 700 ranking points over World No. 3 Anett Kontaveit.
Also Read: WATCH: Ons Jabeur has a dramatic fall and throws her racket in the US Open finals
