Iga Swiatek wins US Open and crowns 2022 wins

Iga Swiatek is the US Open champion. At the age of 21, the Polish, world number one, secured her second Grand Slam of the season and seventh championship of the year.

The tennis player crowned the excellent season with a victory this Saturday (10), by 2 sets to 0 (6/2, 7/6), over the Tunisian Ons Jabeur, fifth place in the WTA (professional tennis association) ranking, which managed to fit his game and made a lot of unforced mistakes. Swiatek had already beaten her opponent in the final of the Italian Open this year.

The first Polish player to win the American “major”, Swiatek now becomes the youngest tennis player to win three Slams in her career – she has twice won Roland Garros – since Maria Sharapova won the 2008 Australian Open.

“It’s New York, it’s crazy,” Swiatek said in a speech after the game. “I need to go home and see [o que a vitória significa para a Polônia]”, he jokes. “I’m happy that I can unite our people with sport and that tennis is gaining more space.”

The Polish is also the first to take gold at Roland Garros and the US Open in the same year since Serena Williams in 2013. The American was the last leader of the ranking to win the tournament, in 2014.

Swiatek’s games in the championship were not easy, unlike the opponent, who lost just one set to reach the final. The Pole confidently entered the court against a more anxious Jabeur, who was in the midst of his second career Grand Slam decision, aged 28. The first was the Wimbledon final, which she lost to Kazakh Elena Ribakina.

Swiatek started the year in ninth place in the WTA rankings and, in April, was elevated to the first position by the sudden retirement of Ashleigh Barty, an Australian who quit tennis at the age of 25.

So far, in addition to the US Open, she has won six major championships this year (Qatar, Indian Wells, Miami, Stuttgart, Italy and the double championship at Roland Garros).

Of the tournaments won, four were on hard court and four on clay. She wasn’t as successful on the grass. She lost in the third round of Wimbledon.

The elimination went far from harming his position in the rankings. Before winning the US Open, she already had almost twice as many points as the then runner-up, Estonian Anett Kontaveit. With the trophy, she accumulates another 2 thousand points and US$ 2.6 million (about R$ 13 million).

Jabeur, with the silver, moves from fifth position to second. She had already hit the number two mark this year, her best yet. The Tunisian who only signed into the WTA in 2017, at the age of 23, seems to be experiencing a late peak in her career.

“I don’t like her very much. [Iga Swiatek] right now”, jokes Jabeur, still on the court, in a statement after the final.

The titles are just part of the champion’s good year, also made up of broken records. After clinching her double championship on Parisian clay, she amassed an impressive 37 straight wins, the longest streak of the 21st century. Before Swiatek, the record holder was Serena Williams, with an unbeaten streak in 34 consecutive games in 2013.

The Polish tennis player seems to have left 2021 behind, marked by just two titles. With the retirement and removal of great names in women’s tennis, such as Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, Swiatek consolidates, at 21, her name as a big bet in the sport.