Advanced Edition: Iga Swiatek, Ons Jabeur cement status as game’s current best at US Open

WATCH: Swiatek and Jabeur's last meeting came at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia final in May.

NEW YORK—For all the talk of inconsistencies at the top of women’s tennis, Iga Swiatek and Ons Jabeur have done all they could to silence those critics at the 2022 US Open, cementing their status as the co-heads of the tour by each making their second Grand Slam final of the season.

Top seed Swiatek came to Flushing under the radar, wary of the quick conditions and light balls, and yet the two-time Roland Garros champion has embraced the ugly win to put herself into position to win her first major off clay. To do so, she’ll have to beat Jabeur, who is set to return to No. 2 in the rankings after backing up her Wimbledon run with a calm that belies her explosive game.

Who has the edge on Saturday?

Why Swiatek Will Win

Though she and Jabeur are tied 2-2 in their head-to-head, it’s safe to say that the Swiatek of 2022 far outpaces the youngster who was finding her footing on tour in years past. Their most recent encounter came on clay at the Internazionali BNL d’Italia. In the midst of her 37-match winning streak, and the world No. 1 utterly had her way with the talented Tunisian.

Swiatek won her first major in 2020 with supreme efficiency, dropping a mere 28 games in seven matches. Her road to a first hard-court major final has been less dominant, rallying from deficits against both Jule Niemeier and Aryna Sabalenka en route.

Iga never loses finals, so it's going to be very tough. I know she struggled a little bit with the balls here, but I don't see her struggling much, to be honest with you. She's playing awesome. It's going to be tough match. Definitely going for my revenge. I love playing on this surface, and I feel like I know exactly what to do against her. Ons Jabeur

While Niemeier and Sabalenka could challenge Swiatek’s heavy top spin game with unbridled aggression, Jabeur doesn’t have the firepower of either of those athletes, which will give Swiatek time to set up and feel comfortable on court.

Swiatek also has much more experience at this stage of a tournament: since losing her very first WTA final, the 21-year-old hasn’t lost a set in her subsequent nine. She’ll look to make it 10 on Saturday.

Why Jabeur Will Win

While both Jabeur and Swiatek were junior standouts, injuries and inconsistencies long prevented the former from achieving the lightning-quick pace of the latter. But it all began coming together for the 28-year-old just before the 2020 COVID lockdown, and she’s largely maintained that level in the two years since.

Jabeur has also showing the encouraging ability to learn from disappointment. After an excellent clay-court swing, she endured a brutal first-round exit at Roland Garros that in turn spurred her on to reaching the finals at Wimbledon.

Up a set on Elena Rybakina, nerves took over and Jabeur found herself holding the runner-up trophy; if the pattern holds, she will have taken that experience in order to apply it in her next final.

Tied 1-1 in hard-court matches with Swiatek, Jabeur has the advantage of facing the world No. 1 off her favorite surface, and has played through a tricky draw that saw her turn around a near-defeat to Shelby Rogers and reverse an 0-3 head-to-head against Veronika Kudermetova.

She saved her most audacious tennis for the semifinal, where she cooled off a streaking Caroline Garcia to make it back into another Slam final. Is this her time to take home the big hardware?

DK’s Pick: Swiatek