Swiatek goes for a 3rd major title, Jabeur a 1st at US Open

September 10, 2022 GMT
1 of 2
Iga Swiatek, of Poland, reacts after defeating Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
1 of 2
Iga Swiatek, of Poland, reacts after defeating Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, during the semifinals of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

NEW YORK (AP) — LOOKAHEAD TO SATURDAY

Iga Swiatek tries to win her third Grand Slam title, while Ons Jabeur gets a second straight chance to win her first. The top-ranked Swiatek won her second French Open title in June, part of her stretch of nine consecutive finals won in straight sets. One of them was in Rome, where she routed Jabeur 6-2, 6-2. A victory would make her the first player since Serena Williams in 2014 to win seven titles in a season. The native of Poland is the first No. 1 seed to reach the final in Flushing Meadows since Williams did it that year. The fifth-seeded Jabeur made her first major final appearance at Wimbledon and now tries again to become the first African woman to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era. The Tunisian has dropped just one set in the tournament.

SATURDAY’S FORECAST

Sunny. High of 82 degrees Fahrenheit (28 Celsius).

FRIDAY’S RESULTS

Men’s semifinals: No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz beat No. 22 Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (6), 6-3, 6-1, 6-7 (5), 6-3; No. 5 Casper Ruud beat No. 27 Karen Khachanov 7-6 (5), 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

STAT OF THE DAY

19 — Consecutive losses by Karen Khachanov against top-10 players since beating No. 7 Alexander Zverev in 2019 in Montreal.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I’m going to come back and I will win this thing one day. I’m sorry, guys.” — Frances Tiafoe, in his interview on the court after his semifinal loss to Carlos Alcaraz.

___

More AP coverage of U.S. Open tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/us-open-tennis-championships and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports