This article is part of our Tennis Picks series.
The US Open women's singles draw wraps up Saturday from the hard courts of the USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. After starting with 128 players, the main draw has been whittled down to two, as No. 1 seed Iga Swiatek will take on No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur in the US Open championship match at 4:00 p.m. EDT on Saturday.
All Tennis Odds & Lines are taken from DraftKings Sportsbook, but occasionally you can find more favorable odds by searching other mobile sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, BetMGM Sportsbook, Caesars Sportsbook, or any of the best sports betting sites. Women's matches in Grand Slams are best of three sets, just like the remainder of the WTA Tour schedule. Both of these players have notched plenty of quality wins to reach the final, but a mix of their previous hard court results, recent form and stylistic matchups can help predict how this match will unfold.
Iga Swiatek (-185) vs. Ons Jabeur (+145)
These have been the two best players on the WTA Tour throughout the year, so it's fitting that they meet in the final Grand Slam championship match of 2022. After world No. 1 Ashleigh Barty abruptly retired, Swiatek quickly established herself as the new top player in the women's game, reeling off a 37-match win streak that included hard court titles at the Qatar Open, Indian Wells and the Miami Open, in addition to her second career Grand Slam title at the 2022 French Open. The 21-year-old Pole showed that she's human with a lull in form after Roland Garros, but Swiatek has bounced back at the US Open to reach her first hard court Grand Slam final. She's had dominant stretches in every match here, winning four in straight sets and capping both three-setters by winning strings of games; Swiatek won the last seven games of her 2-6, 6-4, 6-0 fourth-round win over Jule Niemeier and reeled off four consecutive games to come back from 4-2 down in the third set of her 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 semifinal win over Aryna Sabalenka.
It feels like only a matter of time until Jabeur breaks through and wins a Grand Slam, as she's into a second consecutive Grand Slam final. Jabeur was overwhelmed by the occasion as the favorite in the Wimbledon final, but she should be more comfortable in her return to this stage, especially as the underdog this time. A Wimbledon title is likely in Jabeur's future given how well her variety works on grass, but she'll be fighting an uphill battle against Swiatek on hard court, as the 28-year-old Tunisian has never won a hard court title in her career, let alone a Grand Slam. This is Jabeur's ninth final since the start of 2021 and sixth of 2022. She's gone 3-5 in those finals, including 0-1 on hard courts. Jabeur has dropped only one set all tournament, but she also didn't face a top-16 seed en route to the final.
The head-to-head between these two US Open finalists is as even as it gets. They have split four previous matches, with each notching one straight sets win and one three-set win. Each has one win on hard courts. Swiatek won their last meeting 6-2, 6-2 in Rome, but that straightforward victory came on Swiatek's preferred clay surface. The last time they met on hard courts was Cincinnati last year, with Jabeur taking that match 6-3, 6-3, though both of these players have made massive strides forward on all surfaces since then.
Prediction:
Swiatek def. Jabeur 7-6, 6-3
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