US Open final: Iga Swiatek’s Grand Slam-winning experience will ‘help tremendously’ – Wilander and Corretja

Mats Wilander believes Iga Swiatek’s Grand Slam winning experience will help her “tremendously” against Ons Jabeur in the US Open final.

Swiatek has played in two Grand Slam finals, both at the French Open, winning at Roland Garros in 2020 and 2022.

“I think Iga’s experience winning a Grand Slam final is going to help tremendously,” said Wilander. “I think that she obviously goes in to win every match, but I think she’s probably as nervous as Ons because she knows what’s on the other side – meaning if I win the Slam, I feel it’s so good for my confidence and it’s so good for everything in my tennis life.

“That can make her more nervous, but at the same time, it’s also a safety net winning the two French Open finals. Now she has reached the US Open, her year is one of the great years that she will most probably ever have.

“With Ons, a loss in the final at Wimbledon, there’s that kind of like, ‘oh, I’m digging myself a bit of a hole in the ground that I need to climb out of’. Two finals for Ons is unbelievable, but there’s a big difference between winning one and making two finals I think.

“I don’t think Iga will beat herself in a match against Ons Jabeur, I think she could beat herself against harder hitters. But I don’t think she’s going to beat herself against Ons because the coach is allowed to talk to them and just say to chill out a little bit.”

Jabeur has an opportunity to become the first African player in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam.

Wilander believes we haven’t seen the best of Jabeur yet at Flushing Meadows.

“She has two options – everything feels great, and then she goes ahead and rips it,” added Wilander. “The other side is that when Ons sees Iga ripping it, she’s going to trick it up even more.

“So again, it’s kind of a matter of, can Ons serve well enough to not be under the gun even after the first serve? Or does she get a point per game for free because of the first serve going in.

“The only tactical thing I see that’s good for Jabeur is that her serve is a slice serve, it stays low and that’s the shot you want to hit into Iga’s forehand.

“If there’s any place you want to go, it’s low and skiddy into Iga’s forehand. When you can do that with the serve, you know you’re going to have two chances to go there because the serve will hurt her and then the next shot could hurt her too.

“So, you have got two shots in a row where you can most probably attack the forehand of Iga.”

Two-time Grand Slam runner-up Alex Corretja thinks the athleticism of Swiatek could make the difference.

“Well, Iga definitely has got the champion mentality,” said Corretja. “She’s going to play until the end because you can see that she’s been through tough matches and she’s going to hang in there no matter what, no matter how she feels.

“Her footwork, I think it’s her biggest strength; her backhand is very good, very flat and can change different positions of the court; she’s got a good return.

“She’s not serving great but she’s tried to put quite a high percentage of serves in and that gives her the chance to step inside the court – to win points against her is not that easy because she really defends very well.”