Iga Swiatek celebrates after her match against Ons Jabeur in the women's singles final on Day 13 of the 2022 U.S. Open tennis tournament at USTA Billie Jean King Tennis Center. Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

Iga Swiatek made bizarre move on championship point at U.S. Open

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Larry Brown | Last updated 9/10/22

Iga Swiatek on Saturday won her first career U.S. Open title, beating Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6(5) at Flushing Meadows for her third career major win. Swiatek got the victory despite pulling off an odd move on her first championship point.

Swiatek was leading 6-5 in the second set and up 40-30 on Jabeur’s serve. Before playing out the championship point, Swiatek went to her equipment area and switched racquets.

Iga Swiatek just went to get a new racquet on CHAMPIONSHIP POINT in a Grand Slam final . Has that ever happened before? It didn't work anyway. Tiebreak #USOpen2022
— Colm Boohig (@ColmBoohig) September 10, 2022

The move was extremely odd considering the 21-year-old had gotten herself into position to win the title by using that racquet.

Swiatek was doing some odd things with her timing and pacing during the final set. She was seen holding her hand/racquet up to ask for more time before Jabeur served. She changed racquets on championship point.

Jabeur’s behavior wasn’t a whole lot better as she was seen kicking balls after disappointing points and damaging her equipment.

Swiatek’s racquet change, though, was highly unusual, especially since her equipment did not seem to be damaged. She wound up losing the game, but prevailed in the tiebreaker.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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