Both Jabeur and Garcia are participating in their first ever US Open semi-final. Jabeur had never progressed to the second week in New York before this year after being stopped at the third round in 2019, 2020 and 2021. Garcia held a similarly unimpressive record at Flushing Meadows, reaching the third round in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2020.

 

 

More broadly, Jabeur has the great experience going deep at the biggest events, with runs to the quarter-finals of the 2020 Australian Open and Wimbledon 2021, as well as her brilliant Wimbledon 2022 campaign that saw her just fall short of the title in the final. Before the US Open, Garcia had only been to the quarter-finals of a Slam once in singles, at her home Slam of Roland Garros in 2017.

 

Head-to-head: Jabeur 2-0 Garcia

The two women have met twice before at tour level, both at Slams. Jabeur won 7-6 (10-8), 6-2 in the first round of the 2019 US Open, before downing Garcia agin 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the second round of the 2020 Australian Open.

However, their rivalry goes deeper, as the pair faced off four times at junior level across Wimbledon, the US Open and twice at Roland Garros. Jabeur won on all four occasions there, including in the semi-final of the 2011 Roland Garros juniors, an event she went on to win.

 

 

While Jabeur appears to have Garcia’s number with a 100% win-loss record of 6-0 over the Frenchwoman, the Garcia of this year’s US Open is a different competitor. She has won 21 of her last 24 matches at tour level since Wimbledon.

Moreover, she has claimed maiden wins in head-to-heads against Alison Riske-Amritraj and Coco Gauff already in New York, against whom she previously held records of 0-3 and 0-2 respectively.