World No. 1 Iga Swiatek wins her third major title at the US Open
Swiatek, playing for a record tying tenth women’s Grand Slam singles title of all time, was the first to successfully defend her title against the previous year’s finalist.
Swiatek won the first set in just 61 minutes 6-0 and held off Serena Williams in a thrilling contest with 37 winners compared to 10 for Williams.
The winner of seven WTA singles titles, Swiatek was able to break Williams’ stranglehold by holding off the American with five sets to zero in the longest final-set tiebreak in the tournament’s history.
Serena’s record was broken and Swiatek’s record of 32 majors was equalled, moving her into third place on the all-time grand slam singles list.
The win takes Swiatek to 31 career majors, seven more than second-placed Steffi Graf.
As Iga’s record-setting victory over Williams, who is not ranked in the top 100 at the time of the win, was the first for American women at the US Open since Billie Jean King (who holds the all-time record at 36) in 1972.
Swish!
“This was amazing because I’ve been playing this match for 10 years,” Swiatek said. “It’s been a great career. It was emotional.”
As they prepared to play their Wimbledon final, Williams said she couldn’t remember the year that had passed since last losing at the US Open by a set or more.
“Every time I’ve played her, I’ve been happy,” Williams said after the big win. “This match, this is more even than I remember playing her. I think it’s also a win for our game.
“It’s good for our career, great for the country’s game … I’ve played her a lot and I’ve always won, so it feels good.”
The other American to win the US Open was Martina Navratilova, who held three major titles (Wimbledon, U.S. Open, French Open) and won at least one more from