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Iga Swiatek defeated Ons Jabeur of Tunisia to clinch her third Grand Slam title and her first at the US Open. The many achievements of the Pole have been lauded by compatriot and former World No. 2 Agnieszka Radwańska.
The 33-year-old told Polish publication Sportowefakty that the World No. 1 was not at her best in the run-up to the final but produced her best tennis in the all-important title round, adding that she handled the pressure "phenomenally."
"Winning two Grand Slam tournaments a year on two different surfaces is an amazing feat. In the first games, Iga did not show her best tennis, but she was going from game to game and in the final she unleashed the greatest potential. She handled the pressure phenomenally. It was visible mainly in the final match," said the former player from Poland who won 20 titles during the course of her career.
Swiatek, who suffered early exits at the Canadian Open and Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati, did well to get past 2017 US Open champion Sloane Stephens in the second round. She was stretched to a deciding set by Jule Niemeier of Germany in the round of 16.
The 21-year-old then lost the opening set of her US Open semifinal against sixth-seed Aryna Sabalenka before getting the better of the Belarusian to set up a final clash with Ons Jabeur.
Swiatek was at her sublime best against Jabeur in what was a repeat of the Rome Masters final, bagging her first-ever US Open title with a 6-2, 7-6 (5) win.
Iga Swiatek cements her position at the helm of the women's game
Iga Swiatek stepped up to take Ashleigh Barty's position at the helm of the women's game after the Australian's surprise retirement and hasn't looked back since her win at the Miami Open.
The Warsaw-born player, who had triumphed at Doha and Indian Wells prior to Miami, went on to bag the titles in Stuttgart, Rome and Roland Garros over the course of a staggering 37-match winning streak that ended during the third round at Wimbledon.
Giant-killer Alize Cornet ended the dream run at SW19 but Swiatek's position at the top of the WTA rankings was never in threat. The Pole now leads second-ranked Ons Jabeur by over a whopping 5000 points.
Iga Swiatek became the youngest woman to win her third Grand Slam title since Maria Sharapova, who was 20 when she achieved the feat.
