Tennis: Five storylines from the women's US Open

bet365 News Team Updated: 09 Nov 22 12:22 Published: 11 Sep 22 13:45

Original article published 11 September 2022

Following a fortnight of fierce battles, the women's US Open reached its climax on Saturday evening as Iga Swiatek claimed New York glory for the first time.

The Polish world number one, who was the Flushing Meadows favourite before a ball was struck, saw off Ons Jabeur 6-2 7-6 in the final to claim the third Grand Slam title of her career.

While Swiatek's victory was the talk of the Big Apple on Saturday, the finale was far from the only story which caught the eye throughout the women's tournament.

Swiatek shows her appetite for the fight

Following Ashleigh Barty's retirement, Swiatek has been the dominant force in women's tennis in 2022, winning seven titles and rubber-stamping her status as world number one with victory in New York.

While the Pole was dominant in winning the French Open, she had to dig deep in New York, coming from behind to beat Jule Niemeier in the last 16 and then again to beat Aryna Sabalenka in the semi-finals.

Swiatek was forced to fight by Jabeur in the second set of the final, displaying fortitude which has not always been apparent. Barring injury or an inexplicable loss of form, she will be the one to beat in Melbourne next season and is just 9/4 to win the 2023 Australian Open.

Jabeur should benefit from the experience

As for Jabeur, that's two Grand Slam final losses in succession as defeat at Wimbledon was followed by more heartache in New York.

The Tunisian, who is blessed with superb variety and a great tennis brain, should learn from that loss but her lack of power remains a problem when up against an in-form opponent.

The 28-year-old is 12/1 to win the Australian Open but she arguably makes more appeal at 9/1 to win Wimbledon, where her game is seen to better effect.

Garcia a significant threat going forward

One of the biggest storylines of the last few months has been the re-emergence of Caroline Garcia as a force to be reckoned with and the Frenchwoman confirmed her return to form when reaching the US Open semi-finals.

Jabeur's guile proved too much on that occasion but Garcia will be back in the WTA's top ten on Monday for the first time since 2018 and looks well-placed to kick on in the final stages of the 2022 season.

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Looking further ahead, she's an obvious candidate to win the Australian Open at 8/1 and is 12/1 to become the first French player to win a French Open singles title since Mary Pierce in 2000.

Former champ Raducanu ready for a reset

Emma Raducanu's meteoric rise from unknown British schoolgirl to US Open heroine took the tennis world by storm a year ago but her title defence did not last long as she was beaten 6-3 6-3 by Alize Cornet in the first round.

After an unusual start to her professional career, Raducanu gets a chance to reset and play some lower-grade events, including this week in Portoroz, Slovenia.

Raducanu - top seed in Slovenia but set to drop out of the world's top 80 on Monday - has confirmed that she will continue a trial with coach Dmitry Tursunov as she looks to establish herself on the WTA Tour.

More Grand Slam glory may not be immediately forthcoming but that is a step in the right direction for the Brit, who remains a major talent. She is 20/1 to win Wimbledon next year.

Nobody draws a crowd like Serena

For all Swiatek's magnificence, the 2022 US Open will mostly be remembered as the final tournament in the career of the great Serena Williams.

Having already announced her intention to retire prior to the tournament, Serena rolled back the years with victories over Danka Kovinic and second seed Anett Kontaveit in the first two rounds before finding Ajla Tomljanovic too strong in a high-quality third-round match.

Following her emotional departure from a packed Arthur Ashe Stadium, Serena joked that she "did always love Australia". However, the 40-year-old is unlikely to have a change of heart between now and the Australian Open in January.