Ons Jabeur has booked her place in the US Open women’s singles final with a rapid win over Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia.
Jabeur took only 66 minutes to dispatch the 17th seed 6-1, 6-3 and reach her second-straight grand slam final.
Tunisia’s Jabeur made her maiden appearance in a major final at Wimbledon two months ago, losing to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
Jabeur, who was the first Arab woman to reach a grand slam final and has become known as Tunisia’s “Minister of Happiness”, shouted with joy after she sent an unreturnable serve over the net for the win.
“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,” she said.
“The hardcourt season started a little bit bad but now I’m very happy that I made it to the finals here.”
The fifth seed will face the winner of the second semifinal between world number one Iga Świątek and sixth-seeded Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka.
Jabeur beat Ajla Tomljanović in the quarters, and if she goes on to win the title it will mark the third time in the past six majors that the Australian has reached the last eight only to be beaten by the eventual champion.
Tomljanović lost her first Wimbledon quarterfinal to Ash Barty last year and fell to Rybakina at SW19 this year.
In the semis, Jabeur ended the 13-match winning streak of Garcia, who had not dropped a set in New York before the match.
ABC/Reuters
