Ons Jabeur didn’t lose her sense of humor after ending runner-up in the US Open as she jokingly said she will forget Iga Swiatek when the Pole gifts her a Rolex watch.
Jabeur, who was the fifth-seeded player in the US Open main draw, suffered back-to-back Grand Slam final losses after falling short to Swiatek.
On Saturday, Swiatek handed Jabeur a 6-2 7-6 (5) loss.
In May, Jabeur suffered a straight-set defeat to Swiatek in the Rome final.
“It will always be great to compete against Iga. I was joking when I said I don’t like her. I’ll forgive her when she gives me a Rolex or something (smiling),” Jabeur said after the final.
Win or lose, you know Ons got jokes.
Ons Jabeur: It will always be great to compete against Iga. I was joking when I said I don’t like her. I’ll forgive her when she gives me a Rolex or something (smiling).
— Reem Abulleil (@ReemAbulleil) September 10, 2022
Jabeur: Swiatek just plays at the right moment
Swiatek now has a 3-2 head-to-head versus Jabeur and she won each of their two meetings this year.
“I think in general [Swiatek just plays] better at the right moment, at the important points,” Jabeur said in her post-match press conference. “She knows exactly what to do. I feel like she improved a lot from last year until the beginning of this year again.”
Swiatek got off to a good start, having broken Jabeur for an early 3-0 lead.
Down by an early break, Jabeur responded and broke back Swiatek in the fifth game to cut the Pole’s lead to 3-2.
However, blowing an early break didn’t impact Swiatek, who broke Jabeur again in the sixth and eighth games to win the first set.
In the second set, both players lost their serve twice as the set had to be resolved in a tie-break.
After saving a match point in the 12th game, Jabeur had a 5-4 lead in the tie-break and was two points away from forcing a third set.
But Swiatek responded by winning the next three points and completing a straight-set win.