Ons Jabeur tops Caroline Garcia in US Open semis to make second straight Grand Slam final

NEW YORK — Ons Jabeur reached a second consecutive Grand Slam title match without needing to produce her best tennis Thursday night, taking full advantage of a shaky showing by Caroline Garcia to win their US Open semifinal match 6-1, 6-3.

The No. 5-seeded Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia, was the runner-up at Wimbledon in July and now will be the first African woman to participate in a final at the US Open in the professional era, which dates to 1968.

«After Wimbledon, [there was] a lot of pressure on me,'' Jabeur said following a win that took barely more than an hour, „and I'm really relieved that I can back up my results.''

Jabeur will try to collect her first major championship Saturday when she meets the winner of the semifinal between No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus. None of the last four players in the women's bracket has ever made it to the final in New York.

With four-time major champion Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in her guest box — they traded thumbs-up signals at match's end — Jabeur improved to 6-0 in semifinals this season and earned her tour-leading 92nd victory in all since the start of 2021. No. 91 came in the quarterfinals this week, when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic, who eliminated Serena Williams in the third round.

Two months ago, Jabeur became the first the first African woman and Arab woman to get to Wimbledon's final, where she ended up losing to Elena Rybakina.

Now Jabeur, who dropped to her knees and let out a yell when the semifinal against Garcia ended and followed that up by lying on her back in the middle of the court, gets another shot at a trophy.

On this 75-degree evening under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Jabeur was not required to be at her best,