Swiatek will face another New York finalist for the first time in Ons Jabeur, who picked up a more comfortable 6-1 6-3 win in their semi-final against Caroline Garcia.
Perhaps it seems fitting that Swiatek and Jabeur, two of the in-form players in women’s tennis this year, face off in the final grand slam of the year – Swiatek seeking a third major title and Jabeur her first having lost the Wimbledon final two months ago.
“I think it’s going to be a great battle,” Swiatek told reporters of the game.
To reach the final, the 21-year-old Polish star had to go through a tough match against sixth seed Sabalenka.
The Belarusian, playing under a neutral flag at the US Open after Russia invaded Ukraine, broke up early in the first set and held on to take an early lead.
Swiatek immediately fought back in the second, smashing Sabalenka to love and then also winning her next two service games to love. Two more breaks followed later in the set as the top seed tied the game.
In a tense deciding set, the pair traded breaks before Sabalenka stormed ahead to take a 4-2 lead. Swiatek did not finish, however, and took the next four games to wrap up the win.
She finished the game with 24 winning points to Sabalenka’s 22 and converted seven of her 10 break points – the last match point when Sabalenka played a backhand into the net.
“Of course, I felt a huge difference between the first set and the last two,” Swiatek told reporters.
“I’m quite happy to have raised my energy level a bit. Aryna made it tough today for sure. I felt like she was serving pretty solidly. It was hard to come back in third, but I’m quite happy that I did.”
Saturday’s match will be a Polish woman’s first appearance in the US Open final, while Tunisia’s Jabeur is the first African to play in the tournament’s showpiece.
