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Ons Jabeur's cry of joy after beating France's Caroline Garcia in the semifinals
Photo: BRIAN HIRSCHFELD / EPA
Ons Jabeur from Tunisia and Poland's Iga Świątek have reached the final of the US Open: 28-year-old Jabeur set a high pace in her semifinals on Thursday and won 6-1, 6-3 after 65 minutes against French Caroline Garcia who had no chance .
This makes her the first player from Africa in the professional era to reach the final of the US Open.
Before the first serve, a minute's silence was held at Arthur Ashe Stadium in honor of the late British Queen Elizabeth II.
World number one Iga Świątek had to fight a lot harder against Aryna Sabalenka from Belarus.
She started weak and struggled with the strong baseline shots from number six Sabalenka.
But after losing the first set, the favorite caught herself and ultimately won 3:6, 6:1, 6:4.
While Jabeur has the chance to win her first Grand Slam in the title match on Saturday (10 p.m. CEST, TV: Eurosport), Świątek is reaching for her third major title.
"I felt a lot of pressure after Wimbledon," said Jabeur, who was in the final of the grass classic two months ago.
»I am very relieved that I was able to confirm my performance.
The hard court season didn't start so well for me, now I'm happy to be in the final again," said Jabeur.
Świątek triumphed for the second time at the French Open in June and is now hoping for her first big success on hard court;
it is her first final in New York.
"It will definitely be a physically tough match," said the 21-year-old about the upcoming game against Jabeur: "But for now I'm happy about reaching the final."
see/sid/dpa