NEW YORK: Ons Jabeur reached a second consecutive Grand Slam title match without needing to produce her best tennis Thursday night, taking full advantage of a shaky showing by Caroline Garcia to win their US Open semifinal 6-1, 6-3.
The No. 5-seeded Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia, was the runner-up at Wimbledon in July and now will be the first African woman to participate in a final at the US Open in the professional era, which dates to 1968.
Jabeur will try to collect her first major championship on Saturday when she meets the winner of the semifinal between No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland and No. 6 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus.
None of the last four players in the women’s bracket has ever made it to the final in New York.
The same goes for the men’s semifinalists who will play Friday: No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain vs. No. 22 Frances Tiafoe of the United States, and No. 5 Casper Ruud of Norway vs. No. 27 Karen Khachanov of Russia.
Jabeur improved to 6-0 in semifinals this season and earned her tour-leading 92nd victory in all since the start of 2021. No. 91 came in the quarterfinals this week, when she defeated Ajla Tomljanovic, who eliminated Serena Williams in the third round.
On this 75-degree evening under the lights in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Jabeur was not required to be at her best, but she was still rather good.
