Iga Swiatek will have a chance to win her third career grand slam after defeating Aryna Sabalenka 3-6 6-1 6-4 in a gutsy come-from-behind win in Thursday's semi-final.

Poland's Swiatek, who has also won the French Open in 2020 and 2022, will play Ons Jabeur in the decider after the Tunisian won her semi-final against the in-form Caroline Garcia in straight sets earlier on.

It continues a remarkable season for the 21-year-old Swiatek, having also reached the semi-final at the Australian Open, before rattling off a 37-match winning streak that saw her claim six titles in a row and put a massive gap on the field as the world number one.

Belarus' Sabalenka was impressive in the opening set, attacking Swiatek's second serves to generate plenty of break points. She won 10-of-12 opportunities against Swiatek's second serve in the first frame, creating six break point chances and taking three.

Things flipped in the second set, and it was all about Swiatek making the adjustments, increasing her first serve accuracy from 64 per cent in the opener to 94 per cent in the second. 

She won 14-of-17 points in those situations in the second frame, and converted all three of her break point opportunities as Sabalenka got sloppy, committing 15 unforced errors with only six winners.

Sabalenka threatened to run away with things late – twice managing to go up a break in the third set – but Swiatek showed composure beyond her years as she continued to fight back.

From 4-2 down in the decider, Swiatek rattled off the next four games in a row, going up 40-0 against Sabalenka's serve in the final game and finishing things off with her second match point.

Data Slam: Swiatek continues historic season

From her past 50 matches, Swiatek has a record of 46-4, and coming into this tournament she had 8605 ranking points – with second-placed Anett Kontaveit down at 4360.

She is also the first number one seed to reach the US Open final since Serena Williams did it back in 2014, snapping the equal-longest drought at any grand slam in the Open Era.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Swiatek – 2/3

Sabalenka – 4/7

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Swiatek – 24/31

Sabalenka – 22/44

BREAK POINTS WON

Swiatek – 7/10

Sabalenka – 5/10

Ons Jabeur was wildly impressive in her 6-1 6-3 victory over the red-hot Caroline Garcia in the US Open semi-final on Thursday, getting the job done in just 67 minutes.

Jabeur, the world number five, was dominant in the opening set, winning 75 per cent of her service points and 61 per cent of her return points, allowing no break point opportunities while taking all three of her own chances to break.

She wrapped up the first set in 24 minutes, and after an even start to the second frame, Jabeur capitalised on her first and only break point chance to grab the decisive lead.

Tunisia's best ever tennis export served things out in style, finishing the match without Garcia ever seeing a break point chance.

It ends a remarkable run for Garcia, who entered the contest on a 13-match winning streak, with 31 wins from her past 35. After dominating Coco Gauff in the quarter-finals, Garcia became the betting favourite to win the tournament.

For Jabeur, it continues a career-best season after reaching her first ever grand slam final at Wimbledon, and her ranking will be bumped up to number two in the world when it next updates.

She will play the winner between Iga Swiatek and Aryna Sabalenka in the decider.

Data Slam: Jabeur makes more history for African tennis

Jabeur is the first African, Arab or Tunisian woman to ever reach the US Open final, after also accomplishing that feat at Wimbledon.

Through six matches at this tournament, she has only lost one set – in the third round against American Shelby Rogers.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Jabeur – 21/15

Garcia – 12/23

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Jabeur – 8/2

Garcia – 2/0

BREAK POINTS WON

Jabeur – 4/4

Garcia – 0/0

Both Ons Jabeur and Caroline Garcia have made further history with their advancement to the US Open women's semi-finals on Tuesday.

The Tunisian overcame Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in a 6-4 7-6 (7-4) victory at Arthur Ashe Stadium, before the Frenchwoman swept aside home favourite Coco Gauff 6-3 6-4.

In doing so, both have reached their first last-four appearance at the final grand slam of the year, and set themselves new benchmarks in the process.

Jabeur is the first Arab or African woman in the Open Era to make the semi-finals at Flushing Meadows.

On the back of reaching the final at Wimbledon earlier this year, she could finish the tournament as the world number two.

Garcia, meanwhile, has reached her first major semi-final without dropping a set along the way.

She has lost just 27 games en route and victory over Gauff extended her winning streak to 13.

In addition, she becomes just the third Frenchwoman to reach the US Open semi-finals in the Open Era, after Amelie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce.

Ons Jabeur believes she can win a major title following her Wimbledon run to the final, having clinched a spot in the US Open semi-final with a straight-sets victory over Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday.

The world number five secured her spot in the last four in one hour and 41 minutes, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-4), having trailed 5-3 in the second set.

The win was Jabeur's 43rd this season, trailing only world number one Iga Swiatek, and comes after she lost to Elena Rybakina in July's Wimbledon decider, fueling her belief that she can secure a breakthrough grand slam title.

"I believe in myself after Wimbledon," Jabeur said during her an on-court interview. "I know that I have it in me to win a [major] final. And here I am in the semi-finals."

Jabeur had reached the quarterfinals at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Wimbledon Championships, with her recent runner-up finish proving a breakthrough.

"I think the fact that I broke that barrier of being in the quarterfinals all the time, that did help with my confidence," she said.

"Knowing that I could make finals in grand slams really helped my game, just trying to build that experience to go into second weeks in grand slams.

"It was very tough coming here, you know, just the hard court season like wasn't that great for me. So I was trying to build more and more confidence on hard courts.

"Wimbledon helped a lot, for sure."

The 28-year-old Tunisian has made history several times, the latest being becoming the first African or Arab woman in the Open Era to reach the US Open semifinals.

On a personal level, she has now also reached the second week in all four major tournaments.

"I’m just trying to do my job here, hopefully I inspire more and more generations from Africa," Jabeur said. "It really means a lot to me."

Ons Jabeur advanced through to her first US Open semi-final after defeating the in-form Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4 7-6 (7-4) on Tuesday.

Jabeur, the world number five, became the first woman from Africa to make the last four at Flushing Meadows after a powerful display in the quarter-finals accounted for an opponent who has belatedly started to pose problems at grand slams.

Continuing a strong season of her own, in which she played a first major final at Wimbledon, Jabeur broke twice in the opening set as Tomljanovic failed to fully capitalise on her wayward serving, instead getting in her own way with four double-faults to no aces.

It meant the Tunisian threatened to run away with the match when she secured another break in the first game of the second set, but Tomljanovic fought back in what developed into a back-and-forth struggle, with six breaks of serve split evenly through the first nine games.

Although that theme initially continued in the tie-break, with the first four points all going against the serve, Jabeur finally found some big serves when it mattered most to finish the job.

A semi-final against either Coco Gauff or Caroline Garcia now lies before Jabeur, who had not previously gone beyond the third round in New York.

Data Slam: Jabeur powers through

Jabeur lacked accuracy with her serve – landing 40 per cent of her first serves across the match – but was dominant when she was able to keep it fair, converting nine of her 11 accurate first serves in the opener to illustrate the significant power gap between the two women.

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Jabeur – 4/2
Tomljanovic – 1/9

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Jabeur – 29/30
Tomljanovic – 12/24

BREAK POINTS WON

Jabeur – 5/6
Tomljanovic – 4/6

Coco Gauff dispatched Zhang Shuai in straight sets to become the youngest US Open quarter-finalist in 13 years.

The 18-year-old American fan favourite won 7-5 7-5 on Sunday, sealing her place in the last eight.

Gauff's victory makes her the youngest player to have reached the quarters at Flushing Meadows since Melanie Oudin in 2009.

Oudin, another American, was 17 at the time, and lost her last-eight tie to eventual runner-up Caroline Wozniacki.

Caroline Garcia is next up for Gauff, who will face either Ons Jabeur or Ajla Tomljanovic should she overcome the US Open quarter-final debutant.

Australia's Tomljanovic followed up her defeat of Serena Williams with a 7-6 (10-8) 6-1 win over Liudmila Samsonova, snapping the Russian's 13-match winning streak and reaching her second career grand slam quarter-final in the process.

World number five Jabeur, meanwhile, made history by becoming the first North African woman to make the US Open quarter-finals in the Open Era.

She is the third woman from the African continent to do so, with South Africans Maryna Godwin (1968) and Amanda Coetzer (1994, 1996 and 1998) having previously achieved the feat. Jabeur defeated Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (7-1) 6-4.

Tributes have poured in across the sporting world for Serena Williams following her apparent US Open swansong on Friday, though the 23-time grand slam winner has kept the door ajar on a shock return.

The American, widely considered one of the greatest sportspeople of all time, suggested she would step away from top-level tennis following the tournament at Flushing Meadows.

Following a 7-5 6-7 (4-7) 6-1 loss to Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic in the third round, her journey now looks to be over – though the 40-year-old admittted "you never know" when asked about future appearances.

Her likely last dance, however, has prompted an outpouring of glowing tributes from far and wide, with a host of major names paying their respects to an unparalleld career.

15-time major-winning golfer Tiger Woods called her "the greatest on and off the court" while four-time NBA champion LeBron James hailed her as "so dope".

Ons Jabeur has now made it to the second week in all four grand slams after her win over Shelby Rogers at the US Open.

Jabeur, the fifth seed at Flushing Meadows, had previously fallen short of making the second week in the season's final grand slam, having reached the third round in three successive years between 2019 and 2021.

But the Tunisian world number five ended that wait with a 4-6 6-4 6-3 defeat of American Rogers.

Jabeur reached the final at Wimbledon this year, her first appearance in a major showpiece match, but lost to Elena Rybakina.

She has made it to the fourth round of the grand slams six times, having managed quarter-final runs at Wimbledon (2021) and the Australian Open (2020).

Another US Open fourth-round debutant awaits Jabeur in the form of Veronika Kudermetova, who despatched Dalma Galfi 6-2 6-0. 

Kudermetova's victory took just 46 minutes, making it the shortest match of the tournament.

The Serena Williams' farewell tour in Toronto is over after she was knocked out of the Canadian Open 6-2 6-4 by 12th seed Belinda Bencic on Wednesday.

Williams, playing for the first time since declaring on Tuesday her intention to retire after this month's US Open, was no match for Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Bencic.

The 23-time major winner was unable to claim back-to-back WTA singles wins for the first time since last year's French Open, having defeated Nuria Parrizas-Diaz for her first victory in 430 days on Monday.

Bencic triumphed in one hour and 17 minutes, winning 84.2 per cent of first-serve points and converted five of eight break points throughout the match.

Williams' power was on show with 13 winners, but Bencic was physically more capable and decisively managed 25 winners with only 13 unforced errors.

Elsewhere, 2019 US Open winner and local hope Bianca Andreescu edged Alize Cornet in a see-sawing clash in the evening, winning 6-3 4-6 6-3 in two hours and 26 minutes.

Fourth seed Paula Badosa and fifth seed Ons Jabeur, who was last month's Wimbledon runner-up, were forced to retire due to injury.

Spanish 24-year-old Badosa withdrew against Yulia Putintseva 7-5 1-0 due to muscle cramping, while Zheng Qinwen had a walkover against Jabeur 6-1 2-1 due to abdominal pain.

Top seed Iga Swiatek brushed aside Ajla Tomljanovic 6-1 6-2 in 64 minutes. The win means Swiatek is the first player to win 15 WTA 1000 matches in straight sets in a row since 2009.

Canadian 13th seed Leylah Fernandez also bowed out, going down 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 to Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia, who will face Swiatek in the third round.

Second seed Anett Kontaveit lost 6-4 6-4 to Jil Teichmann in one hour and 27 minutes. Teichmann will next face Simona Halep who won in 71 minutes against Zhang Shuai 6-4 6-2.

Sixth seed Aryna Sabalenka got past Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4 6-3 to set up a third-round meeting with Coco Gauff after she defeated Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 6-4 6-7 (8-10) 7-6 (7-3) in an epic that lasted two hours and 49 minutes.

Jessica Pegula won 6-2 7-5 over American qualifier Asia Muhammad to progress through to face Camila Giorgi after she knocked off Elise Mertens 7-3 7-5.

Third seed Maria Sakkari triumphed in three sets 6-2 4-6 6-2 over Sloane Stephens and will face Karolina Pliskova next after the Czech beat Amanda Anisimova 6-1 6-1.

Eighth seed Garbine Muguruza won 6-4 6-4 against Kaia Kanepi and Alison Riske toppled 16th seed Jelena Ostapenko 7-6 (7-2) 0-6 7-5.

Despite being ranked fourth in the world, Paula Badosa came into her quarter-final showdown with the red-hot Coco Gauff as the underdog, but she played like a favourite en route to a 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory.

Usually one of her stronger weapons, Gauff's serve was a liability on Friday, with six double faults in the first set alone to drop the opening frame despite breaking Badosa twice.

In the second set, while Badosa was converting 92 per cent (11-of-12) of her accurate first serves into points, Gauff's figure was down at 53 per cent (eight-of-15) as the Spaniard's return game was at its best.

Badosa will meet seventh seed Daria Kasatkina in the semi-final after the Russian beat Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka 4-6 7-5 6-0. The longer the match went, the less effective Sabalenka became with her ability to return serve.

In the first set, which Sabalenka won, she was successful in 53 per cent (19-of-36) of the points against Kasatkina's serve, and that number plummeted to 14 per cent (two-of-14) in the decider.

Third seed and Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur was eliminated by ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova 7-6 (7-5) 6-2, and she will meet unseeded American Shelby Rogers in the second semi-final after she defeated Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-4.

Meanwhile, in Washington at the Citi Open, Emma Raducanu felt the effects of her gruelling match 24 hours prior as she went down 7-6 (8-6) 6-1 to Liudmila Samsonova.

On Thursday, Raducanu played in the longest two-set match of the WTA season as she eventually made her way through two tiebreakers against Camila Osorio in two hours and 49 minutes, and she ran out of steam after another tough tie-break against Samsonova.

Samsonova will play China's Xiyu Wang in the semi-final after another upset, knocking out fourth seed Victoria Azarenka in convincing fashion 6-1 6-3.

Estonia's Kaia Kanepi booked her place in the second semi-final after a 6-7 (4-7) 6-4 6-3 win against Anna Kalinskaya, where she will meet Daria Saville after the Australian got the better of Canada's Rebecca Marino 6-1 7-5. 

Second and third seeds Paula Badosa and Ons Jabeur eased into the Silicon Valley Classic quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Simona Halep and Jessica Pegula were bundled out of the Citi Open.

Last month's Wimbledon finalist Jabeur proved too good for American Madison Keys 7-5 6-1, winning in one hour and 22 minutes.

Jabeur, playing for the first time since Wimbledon, converted six of nine break points for the match, dominating the second set where she won 90.9 per cent first serve points.

Second seed Badosa survived a scare to win over qualifier Elizabeth Mandlik 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 31 minutes.

Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova was knocked out by American Amanda Anisimova 3-6 7-5 6-1, while last year's runner-up Daria Kasatkina beat Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-0.

Two-time major winner Halep was forced to retire due to illness and top seed Jessica Pegula was bundled out by Daria Saville at the Citi Open.

In warm conditions, the 30-year-old Romanian battled throughout the match but eventually retired down 7-5 2-0 to Anna Kalinskaya after one hour and six minutes.

Halep had fought back from a 4-0 deficit in the first set to square it up at 5-5, before losing the first set.

However, the former world number one succumbed to illness early in the second set, handing Kalinskaya her passage into the quarter-finals.

On a dramatic day for the Citi Open favourites, world number seven Pegula was eliminated by Saville in straight sets in one hour and 38 minutes, 7-5 6-4.

Pegula was not helped by a first-serve percentage of 44.8 per cent, while she struggled to convert break points, with the Australian saving nine of 10 for the match.

Saville's win means she is 3-3 against top 20 opponents this year, progressing into the last eight where she will face Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino.

Marino, who beat Venus Williams in her return to singles in the first round on Monday, knocked off Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-3 3-6 6-1.

Estonian sixth seed Kaia Kanepi progressed into the quarters where she will face Kalinskaya after beating China's Zhu Lin 4-6 6-4 6-4.

Ons Jabeur said she was simply "not ready" to win a grand slam after losing in three sets to Elena Rybakina in the Wimbledon final.

The Tunisian world number two won the first set of Sunday's title match but then faded and slid to a 3-6 6-2 6-2 defeat.

Russian-born Rybakina, who switched nationality to Kazakh four years ago after being offered financial incentives to do so, was able to celebrate a surprise maiden slam title.

Jabeur was disappointed after the loss and told reporters in a news conference: "I couldn't do more, I really tried deep inside everything that I can.

"I did everything since the beginning of the year to really focus on this tournament, I even have the trophy picture on my phone.

"It wasn't meant to be. I cannot force things. I'm not ready for it probably, to be a grand slam champion."

The 27-year-old was optimistic of her chances of eventually making a breakthrough at the highest level, and perhaps a chance will come at the US Open in September.

She said: "I cannot wait to look forward to the next one.

"If I have another final I will learn more from it. I cannot wait to really improve a lot of things in my game.

"I want to [continue to] be a top-five player, I want to win more titles, I want to win a grand slam."

Elena Rybakina produced a breathtaking comeback to win the Wimbledon title as Ons Jabeur fell short in the women's final – a Russian native triumphing in the name of Kazakhstan.

Rybakina, who was born, raised and learned her tennis trade in Moscow, switched to represent Kazakhstan in 2018 after being offered an appealing financial package.

Russians were banned, along with their Belarusian colleagues, from playing at Wimbledon this year by the All England Club, owing to the Kremlin-led invasion of Ukraine.

The decision has cost Wimbledon, and Britain's Lawn Tennis Association, fines totalling $1million, albeit those are being appealed.

And still, somehow, a player with tight Russian ties has prevailed, handed the trophy on Centre Court by the Duchess of Cambridge. This was not, it seems safe to say, the ideal scenario for Wimbledon's blazer brigade.

Yet in Rybakina the tournament has an exciting young champion, and given she turned her back on playing for Russia to represent Kazakhstan, it is hardly a victory that Vladimir Putin can hold up as a great triumph for his country on the global sporting stage.

All the same, some of the power-brokers in SW19 might have been quietly hoping that Jabeur would see this through, the world number two delivering trophy success that would have been celebrated across Africa and the Arab world.

The crowd appeared to be pulling for Jabeur too, after the 27-year-old made herself a favourite thanks to her entertaining, enterprising brand of tennis, matched to a thoroughly charming personality.

The Tunisian, playing the biggest match of her life as the Islamic festival of Eid al-Adha got under way, looked like her day in the sun had arrived when on a sizzling London day she took the first set without any particular fuss.

A pre-tournament sally by the seaside with Serena Williams served Jabeur well, their doubles liaison in Eastbourne emboldening the world number two for this fortnight, and yet come crunch point in the final, it all went over the cliff.

There was a skip of satisfaction when Jabeur broke early in that first set, and with the six-foot Rybakina spraying her powerful ground shots often out of court it looked to be a match that could only go one way. There were sizzling winners from Rybakina but too many unforced errors, with 17 in the first set alone.

Perhaps it was the scale of what she was halfway to achieving, but Jabeur's focus then slipped. An ill-advised 'tweener', the between-the-legs party piece favoured by Nick Kyrgios, found the net and pointed to incoming trouble.

Rybakina swept to a 5-1 lead in the second set. Jabeur, known as the "minister of happiness" in Tunisia, soon looked pretty glum as Rybakina levelled the match with an ace on set point.

The winners-to-errors ratio had swung around dramatically from the first set, and when Rybakina sprinted ahead in the decider with an immediate break, dominating the battles of craft as well as the full-power rallies, Jabeur was in the doldrums.

The usually mild-mannered Jabeur lashed out when she was outsmarted at the net by Rybakina, lucky not to make full contact as she swished out at the ball in frustration.

Leading 3-2 and approaching the finish line, Rybakina slipped 0-40 down, as some of Jabeur's great touch returned with drop-shot and lob winners. That could have been a turning point, but Rybakina fended off the danger in terrific style, finishing off the game with a simple volley at the net.

Victory came from the first match point, Jabeur hacking a backhand wide. Rybakina raised her left wrist to her mouth, puffed out her cheeks and jogged up to the net to greet Jabeur, before waving to all corners of Centre Court.

The world number 23, whose age matches her ranking, becomes the second-lowest ranked women's singles champion at Wimbledon since the Open Era began in 1968. Only Venus Williams in 2007, when ranked 31st, triumphed from a lower rung on the ladder.

It was 3-6 6-2 6-2 in the end, and Rybakina became the first women's singles champion since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006 to come back from losing the first set to carry off the Venus Rosewater Dish.

She passed 50 aces in a WTA-level tournament for the first time in the process, with four in this match taking her Wimbledon 2022 total to 53, and becomes the youngest women's champion in these parts since 2011, when a 21-year-old Petra Kvitova saw off Maria Sharapova.

Sharapova was champion for Russia as a 17-year-old in 2004. This, though, was for Kazakhstan, Rybakina effusively thanking the wealthy federation president Bulat Utemuratov who watched on proudly.

As Wimbledon hung on every word, he was emphatically the right president to acknowledge.

Ons Jabeur is hopeful that she will have another shot at winning a maiden grand slam title after losing to Elena Rybakina in three sets in Saturday's Wimbledon final.

The third seed let slip a one-set lead to lose 3-6 6-2 6-2 to Rybakina in a Centre Court clash between two females contesting their first major finals.

World number two Jabeur had won all 11 matches played on grass in 2022 heading into the final, including six wins en route to the Championship match at the All England Club.

But the Tunisian struggled to build on a bright start, winning just two of her 12 break points and finishing with 17 winners to 29 for Rybakina, who she felt was a deserving winner.

"I want to congratulate Elena and her team – it was a great job and she deserved this and hopefully next time it will be mine," Jabeur said in her on-court interview.

"I wouldn't do this without my team there. They always pushed me to do more so thank you for your support and believing me."

Saturday's contest was the first time in the past 15 such occasions, since 2006, that a player has lost the first set and gone on to win the Wimbledon women's singles final.

While she may have fallen just short of becoming the first Arab and African female to win a grand slam, Jabeur hopes she has inspired children back home.

"Elena stole my title but it's okay," she joked. "I love this tournament so much and I feel really sad, but I'm trying to inspire many generations from my country. 

"I hope they are listening. I also want to thank his beautiful crowd for all their support over the two weeks. It's been amazing. I want to wish Eid Mubarak to everyone celebrating."

Surprise champion Elena Rybakina doubted she would make the second week at Wimbledon, never mind win the title.

After a 3-6 6-2 6-2 victory over hot favourite Ons Jabeur, Rybakina spoke of her pride at becoming the first player representing Kazakhstan to win a grand slam singles title.

She is Russian-born and raised, switching nationality four years ago after receiving financial incentives to do that, so in a year when players representing Russia were banned from Wimbledon, her triumph has perhaps come at an inopportune moment for tournament chiefs.

Rybakina was concerned purely with sporting success rather than politics and war on a day when she picked apart Jabeur's game so impressively in the second and third sets.

She became the first women's singles champion to come back and win after dropping the opening set of a Wimbledon final since Amelie Mauresmo did so against Justine Henin in 2006.

"I'm speechless because I was super nervous before the match, during the match, and I'm honestly happy it's finished," said Rybakina.

"Really, I've never felt something like this. I just want to say big thanks to the crowd for their support, it was unbelievable all these two weeks.

"I didn't expect to be in the second week at Wimbledon and to be a winner is just amazing."

Rybakina, whose world ranking of 23 matches her age, hailed third seed Jabeur, who had been bidding to become Africa's first women's singles champion in a grand slam.

"I want to thank Ons for the great match and everything you achieved," Rybakina said. "You are inspirational, not just for the young juniors but for everybody. You have an amazing game and I don't think we have someone [else] like this on tour. It's just a joy to play against you."

Rybakina was presented with the trophy by the Duchess of Cambridge, and she savoured playing in front of British royalty.

It has been widely perceived that a factor behind the ban on Russians and Belarusians this year was that the optics of royalty handing over the trophy to a player from either country would not be ideal, given the Kremlin-led ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

The Duchess spoke warmly to Rybakina as she presented the trophy, and the newest grand slam winner on the women's tour had a message for the royals, too.

"Thank you for the Royal Box," she said. "I'm playing first time [in front of royalty] and it's an honour to be here in front of you. Thank you so much. It's just an unbelievable atmosphere, thank you."