The final of the US Open in New York on Saturday will see world No 1 Iga Swiatek take on Ons Jabeur at Flushing Meadows. Swiatek will be looking to win her third major title, having twice triumphed at the French Open, including this year at Roland Garros when she crushed American teenager Coco Gauff in Paris.
The Pole admitted that she is still learning to trust herself on the fast North American hard courts, where she struggled in tune-up events before coming to New York, after going on a 37-match winning streak earlier in the year. “I trust myself for sure on clay, and maybe also other surfaces,” she said. “Here I just try to accept maybe that sometimes I'm not going to trust myself, and I still need to prove myself in a couple of matches against heavy hitters.” The battle in New York will be Jabeur's second Slam final in succession having been defeated by Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon in July.
The Tunisian has yet to claim a major win. “It feels more real just to be in the finals again,” said Jabeur. “At Wimbledon I was kind of just living the dream, and I couldn’t believe it.
Even after the match, I was just going to do my things and not realising it was an amazing achievement already. “But now I hope I’m getting used to it.