“This tournament was a really challenging goal,” Iga Swiatek reflects on her journey after winning the 2022 US Open


“This tournament was a really challenging goal,” Iga Swiatek reflects on her journey after winning the 2022 US Open

Iga Swiatek

World No. 1 Iga Swiatek wins her third career major and first at the Flushing Meadows as she defeated Ons Jabeur to win the 2022 US Open title becoming the first Polish woman ever to lift the title in New York at the final Grand Slam of the season.

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Iga won the match 6-2, 7-6(5) in 1 hour and 51 minutes after Ons staged a brilliant comeback to delay Iga’s win as the Tunisian saved a championship point before the tiebreaker began. Iga did not miss the second chance and became victorious at a major for the second time this season.

Also Read: “I don’t like her very much right now,” Ons Jabeur gets emotional as Iga Swiatek beats her to the 2022 US Open title

“I just didn’t expect it,”: Iga Swiatek on winning the US Open title

Ons Jabeur and Iga Swiatek
Ons Jabeur and Iga Swiatek with their respective trophies won at the 2022 US Open

Swiatek had a poor build-up to the US Open as she suffered early exits in the warm-up tournaments including the Canadian and Cincinnati Open. With Iga yet to cross the 4th round at the major before this year, many doubted if Iga could take the title home but the Pole squashed all doubts in style.

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“I don’t know honestly. I just didn’t expect it, especially before this tournament. It was such a challenging time and coming back after winning a Grand Slam is always tricky even though Roland Garros was the second one. I just needed to take a pause and focus on the goals.

“For sure this tournament was a really challenging goal because it is New York, it’s so loud, it’s so crazy. There were so many temptations in the city, so many people I met here, so it’s mindblowing for me and glad I could handle it mentally.

Ons, such an amazing tournament, such an amazing season. I know that this is a pretty nice rivalry and I am pretty sure you will win some of them. So don’t worry. Of course congrats to your team because the dedication that you show, it’s pretty amazing,” said Iga during her on-court interview.

On being asked what the win means for Poland, Iga said, “I don’t know, I need to go home and check. I am really sure that it’s a lot because I can hear what’s going down right now, so thank you guys. Especially now when we got to stay united and support ourselves and stay together.

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“I am pretty happy that I can kind of unite through our sport and I am proud that tennis is getting more and more popular at home. I know I am repeating what Ons said, we are setting inspiration and we are trying our best to be good people and be good examples,” added Iga further.

Iga then went on to thank her team by saying, “You know guys how tough it was basically and I am pretty sorry that I am giving you guys such a hard time. You are always the ones that are basically smarter and know what to do even though I am pretty stubborn.

“I’m pretty happy that I have you on my side and I have people who know how to guide me so if it was not for them, I wouldn’t stand here, I wouldn’t be so well prepared so thank you guys,” said Swiatek concluding her on-court interview.

Iga was then presented her trophy by tennis great Martina Navratilova as the Pole ends her Grand Slam season on a high having won two titles and also having extended her lead at the top of the rankings to more than 5000 points as her tally crosses the 10,000 points mark.

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Also Read: WATCH: Matthew Perry from the famous sitcom FRIENDS visits the Arthur Ashe stadium to watch the thrilling US Open women’s final

Also Read: WATCH: Ons Jabeur has a dramatic fall and throws her racket in the US Open finals