NEW YORK -- When Ons Jabeur finally met her idol Andy Roddick on Wednesday, she must have pocketed some of his secret serving sauce. 

Jabeur’s game is more quirky, cunning and crafty -- but Thursday in the semifinals of the US Open, she knocked the streaking Caroline Garcia off the court. The score was 6-1, 6-3 -- and it was over in 66 minutes.

Jabeur will next face top-ranked Iga Swiatek, who needed three sets to oust Aryna Sabalenka. 

Jabeur produced eight aces and 21 winners. She did not face a break point and converted all four of her chances. She fell to the court after shaking hands with Garcia, soaking it all in.

How important was her serve?

“So important,” Jabeur said in her on-court interview. “She comes in the court and puts a lot of pressure on my second serves. I’m really glad she didn’t break me in the end -- would have been really tough to go to 5-4.”

This was her first match all season (57th match) when she did not face a break point.

Although Jabeur was seeded at No.5, this could be considered an upset. Garcia had won 13 matches in a row and four straight against Top10 opponents this summer: Maria Sakkari, Jessica Pegula and Aryna Sabalenka -- all a few weeks ago in Cincinnati -- and Iga Swiatek in Warsaw. Since the beginning of June, Garcia had won 31 matches and three tournaments.

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And yet, Jabeur has been playing the long game and is now starting to see some terrific results. No player has won more matches than Jabeur over the past two years. She has 92 victories, two more than Swiatek. In 2022, only Swiatek has more than Jabeur’s 44.

Going back to juniors, Jabeur has now beaten Garcia seven times in seven matches. All three professional wins have come in Grand Slams. That kind of scar tissue is difficult to dismiss. 

“Just trying to use that,” Jabeur said. “Mentally, I was ready.”

Garcia looked nothing like the player who sliced through her first five matches here with all kinds of confidence.

Jabeur has now reached the semifinals in her past two Grand Slam appearances after having never reach this stage in her first 20 majors. She is the first player to advance to the final in Wimbledon and at the US Open in the same season since Serena Williams in 2019.

“After Wimbledon, a lot of pressure on me,” Jabeur said. “I’m really, really relieved that I backed up my result. I’m very glad I made it to the finals here.”

She’ll be ranked No.2 or No.3 come Monday, depending on how Sabalenka fares.

Jabeur broke through first Thursday night, taking the opening game of Garcia’s serve when the French player sent a backhand soaring long. When Jabeur followed up with a hold, it was only the second time in this event that Garcia had lost back-to-back games.

While Garcia came into the match with more aces than any player, Jabeur displayed some surprising power, stroking three aces in her first two service games. Jabeur went up a double-break when Garcia tossed another backhand into the net.

The first set was over in a scant 23 minutes when Garcia hit another error, her 14th of the set. Jabeur, meanwhile, had six aces and 11 winners.

The second was more of the same.

With Garcia serving at 1-2, Jabeur broke her for a fourth time -- converting her fourth break point in four chances. Garcia had been broken only three times in the five previous matches.

Garcia finally saw a small opening with Jabeur serving at 15-30. With Garcia two feet inside the baseline, Jabeur hit a 92 mph second serve that hit the line and skipped past Garcia untouched. It was a microcosm of how the night went for Garcia.

Jabeur will play for the title Saturday at 4 p.m. ET.