NEW YORK: A final often finishes with contrasting images, ones that never quite fade. The winner, euphoric after the last point, lying on her back and looking up at the New York sky, like Iga Swiatek on Saturday. Ons Jabeur, fighting back her emotions as the Pole wrapped her in a hug. The Tunisian’s box, sporting her ‘Yalla Habibi’ tees, make a desperate attempt at control. The triumph and the tears of an evening in Flushing Meadows.
The winner takes it all, Abba might’ve sung of a love story gone wrong, but the words lend equally to sporting contests, where one and only one leaves with the silverware that counts. And Swiatek it was again, for the second time on a major stage in 2022.
