On a day when power and aggression were eclipsed by artistry and experience, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur followed contrasting routes to the same destination at Flushing Meadows.
Jabeur, seeded fifth here but poised to regain the world No 2 ranking next week, took the high road, storming past Caroline Garcia of France 6-1, 6-3 to reach the second grand slam final of her career, only two months after she made the first at Wimbledon.
Swiatek, the world No 1 and French Open champion, was forced down a more winding path by Aryna Sabalenka, bouncing back from a set down before cancelling out a 4-2 deficit in the decider to battle past the powerful Belarusian sixth seed 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 in two hours and 11 minutes.
It means a US Open that began with Serena Williams occupying centre stage will end with a final between the best two players in the world at present, something of a collector’s item in an era when the unprecedented depth of the women’s game has yielded surprises such as Elena Rybakina’s Wimbledon win and Emma Raducanu’s victory in New York last year. Already, both players have made history, Jabeur as the first Arab and African woman to reach a US Open final, Swiatek as the first Polish woman to do so.
Whoever prevails on Saturday, there will be little by way of shock value. Swiatek’s form had waned in the weeks following her Wimbledon defeat to Alizé Cornet, which ended a run of 37 straight wins and six consecutive titles, and it is no secret that the lighter balls used in the women’s event in New York are not to her liking.
Yet how she has embraced the challenge, dispatching former champion Sloane Stephens with an accomplished performance in round two, surviving a last-16 scare against the powerful German Jule Niemeier, and then claiming her eighth successive straight-sets win over a top-10 player against Jessica Pegula.
Sabalenka, who looked back to her potent best during her wins over Danielle Collins and Karolina Pliskova, presented a challenge of a different order. For a set, Swiatek struggled to contain the Belarusian’s power. Having fallen behind, however, the 21-year-old steadied herself brilliantly, absorbing Sabalenka’s pace with her extraordinary movement and defensive skills, and showing steely resolve to fight back in the decider.
“I’m pretty happy that even though maybe I wasn’t feeling 100% perfect from the beginning of the tournament, I was still able to get better and better and to play a really solid game,” said Swiatek.
“For me, winning when I’m not feeling perfect, it’s the best feeling.”
Thoughts of imperfection were far from the mind of Jabeur, who has lost just one set en route to the final and had far too much guile and variety for Garcia, the 17th seed.
Garcia has been the summer’s standout player, winning three titles on three different surfaces, and after her extraordinary run in Cincinnati, where she came through qualifying to lift the title, she stepped out to face Jabeur on a 13-match winning streak.
Many felt the Frenchwoman, a former world No 4, was destined for the title, but her aggressive, first-strike style failed to make an impression on Jabeur, the Tunisian’s impeccable serving and dizzying changes of pace and spin disrupting the 28-year-old’s rhythm and confidence in her first major semi-final.
“I know she was very confident, so I had to really impose my game from the beginning,” said Jabeur. “Tactically, I think I played really well.”