The Minister of Happiness is just one step away from adding another title:
U.S. Open champion.
Already the first African and the first Arab female to make the semifinals in Flushing Meadows, Ons Jabeur showed she wasn’t satisfied and isn’t done. The Tunisian eviscerated Caroline Garcia 6-1, 6-3 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to cruise right into Saturday’s Final with a dominant performance.
Dropping to her knees, Jabeur let out a visceral scream that belied the cold, calculating game she’d just played.
Jabeur tossed her racket away, splayed her arms wide – are you not entertained? – and fell to her back, soaking up the moment. Then she sat up on the ground, smacking the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.
“It feels amazing,” said Jabeur, who backed up her Wimbledon final with an encore here at Flushing Meadows. “After Wimbledon there was a lot of pressure on me. I’m really relieved I can back up my results. The hardcourt season started a little bit bad, but I’m really happy I could make the final here.”
Aggressively serving down the lines and varying her attacks, Jabeur won points on 83 percent of her first serves, compared to just 48% for Garcia.
“It was so important,” said Jabeur. “I know she comes in the court and puts a lot of pressure on my second serve, so I had to put my first serves in.”
After a moment of silence to honor the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, Jabeur – dubbed the Minister of Happiness by her countryman due to her upbeat personality – put on an unsentimental display.
Jabeur broke her French foe right out of the gate, both literally and figuratively.
The 17th-seeded Garcia had only lost consecutive games once this entire tournament, and hadn’t even faced a set point much less dropped one. But she had her serve broken in the very first game, and got broken three times in a first set that saw her look uncharacteristically skittish and scared.
Garcia committed 14 unforced errors, and never recovered.
Jabeur will face the winner of Thursday night’s other semifinal between Poland’s Iga Swiatek – the top-ranked player in the world – and Aryna Sabalenka.