Jabeur thrashes France's Garcia to reach US Open final
NEW YORK (AFP/ REUTERS) - Tunisia's Ons Jabeur demolished Caroline Garcia in straight sets to become the first African woman in history to reach the final of the US Open on Thursday (Sept 9).
Fifth seed Jabeur dominated Garcia from start to finish of a one-sided semi-final at Arthur Ashe Stadium, winning 6-1, 6-3 in just 1hr 6min.
Garcia had not dropped a set in reaching the last four but immediately ran into problems as Jabeur broke her in the opening game before taking the first set in a blistering 23 minutes, with six aces and 11 winners.
Rolling into her first Grand Slam semi-final on a 13-match winning streak, Garcia was denied the most reliable tool in her arsenal - her big serve - and never had the momentum.
Jabeur, who became the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam final at Wimbledon this year 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 hard court season started a little bit bad but now I'm very happy that I made it to the finals here."
Jabeur will play either world No. 1 Iga Swiatek or Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus in Saturday's final.
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now