By Efosa Taiwo
Tunisian Ons Jabeur eased past Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 on Thursday to become the first Africa woman to make it to the US Open women’s final.
The No. 2 seed got into her element immediately, defeating Garcia in the first game, breezing through to take the first set with six aces and 11 winners.
She continued from where she left off in the second set, although struggled with her serve but had enough quality to muster a 6-3 win over Garcia.
She will now face in Saturday’s final World Number 1 Iga Swiatek who fought back multiple times to defeat her opponent, Aryna Sabalenka 3-6, 6-1. 6-4 in the other semi-final.
Jabeur who is also known as Tunisia’s “Minister of Happiness” admitted she struggled in the second set but glad her opponent didn’t get the better of her.
“In the second set I was trying, she was playing much better but I’m really glad she didn’t break me at the end because it was going to be tough,” she said.
She also revealed that coming into the tournament, there was pressure on her following her heroic feat at Wimbledon.
“It feels amazing. After Wimbledon there was a lot of pressure on me and I’m really relieved that I can back up my results,” said Jabeur, the first North African woman to reach the final in New York.
“The hard court season started a little bit bad but now I’m very happy that I made it to the finals here.”
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