The women’s final of the US Open brings together at this time (Saturday) two of this year’s most prominent tennis players in the industry, in a battle for the prestigious title in Flushing Meadow: ranked 1 in the world Iga Shabiontek against ranked 5 Ons Jabour.
The Polish Shabiontek comes in as a favorite, as during the year she recorded the longest streak in the 21st century, with 37 victories during which she won six titles, including Roland Garros for the second time. In fact, Shabiontek is the only one in the round that has won more games than Javor this year. The Tunisian won the biggest title of her career this year, on clay at the Masters tournament in Madrid, and then recorded a streak of 13 victories, on the way to the title on the grass in Berlin and qualifying for the Wimbledon final.
The winner will win $2.6 million and 2,000 ranking points, with Javor qualifying anyway for her record ranking of #2 in the world. Whoever wins will make history in her country, and become the first ever to win the US Championship. Jabour of course hopes to become the first Tunisian and the first Arab woman to win a Grand Slam.
Their head-to-head record is 2:2, but the more experienced Shabiontek has won 16 of her 17 career finals.
the progress of the game
Act 1: 2:6 to Sheviontek
Shabiontec started impressively, when in the second game she got a break on the zero, and went up to 0:3 even as she loses only two points in three games. Javor was not panicked and responded with a break of her own to shrink to 3:2, showing aggression and power from the back line. Shabiontek came to her senses again, and took two consecutive games, enjoying excellent percentages in the first serve (19 of 21), and went up 2:5. In the eighth game she achieved a third break in the set, and within 30 minutes she went 0:1 in sets with an impressive 2:6.
Act 2
Shabiontek continued to press, and after a difficult first game in which she kept her serve with her teeth, she also managed to get a third break in a row to go up 0:2, and frustrate Javor who had already thrown the racket on the floor a second time. The Pole went up 0:3 and was close to breaking once more, but Javor saved two break points to shrink to 3:1 and stay in the match. In a situation of 4:2 Javor was the one who raised the level at a key moment, and with an excellent break she won two consecutive games and equalized at 4:4.
In the ninth game, the tension reached its peak, when Javor tried to play aggressively and did manage to get three break points, but Shabiontek saved them one after the other and went up 4:5. At this point, every point became a thriller, and Javor managed to equalize to 5:5, but Shabiontek did not panic and kept her serves on the way to 5:6.