While You Were Asleep: Iga Swiatek crowned US Open champion, England beat India by 9 wickets in first women’s T20I, Lewandowski stars in Barcelona’s win

Iga Swiatek defeated Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6 to clinch her first US Open champion title. Sarah Glenn's (4/23) and Sophia Dunkley's unbeaten 61 helped England to beat India by nine wickets. Lewandowski scored his ninth goal in five games for Barcelona

(L-R) Iga Swiatek with her US Open title England's Sarah Glenn celebrates a wicket against India; Robert Lewandowski shines in Barcelona's win over Caidiz. (AP)

Poland’s Iga Swiatek fell on her back and covered her face with her hands after prevailing in the tight second-set tiebreak, having sealed the win when the fifth seed’s shot sailed long. World No 1 Iga Swiatek outplayed No 5 Ons Jabeur 6-2, 7-6 to win her first US Open title.

She is the first top-seeded woman to win the US Open since Serena Williams in 2014.

It was Swiatek’s first Grand Slam title on a hard court and the 21-year-old is the first Polish woman to win the US Open.

How it sounded when @iga_swiatek became a #USOpen champion. 📻 pic.twitter.com/iITAiBr7U4

— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 10, 2022

Swiatek ascended to world number one ranking following the shock retirement of Australian Ash Barty in March and quickly showed she was worthy of the position, winning 37 consecutive matches, including the French Open.

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The claycourt specialist showed she could be successful on hard courts, too, with wins at Indian Wells and Miami, but finally looked vulnerable after early exits at US Open tune-up events in Toronto and Cincinnati.

She made headlines coming into New York by criticizing the balls being used at the US Open and said her expectations for herself were low.

First T20I: Sarah Glenn and Sophia Dunkley show

Riding on Sarah Glenn (4/23) and Sophia Dunkley (61 not out), England thumped India by nine wickets in the first T20I at Durham.

After being put into bat first, India could only manage 132 for 7 in 20 overs. Openers Smriti Mandhana (23), Shafali Verma (14) gave India a rollicking start. Byt the middle order Dayalan Hemalatha (10), Harmanpreet Kaur (20), Richa Ghosh (16) and Kiran Navgire (7) failed to capitalise on the start. If not for Deepti Sharma’s unbeaten 29, India would not have managed to reach the respectable total.

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Leg-spinner Sarag Glenn (4/23) recorded her career best figure.

In reply, England had a streaky start with Dunkley surviving at least thrice in the powerplay. She was caught behind in the third ball she faced, but Renuka Singh had overstepped, and then Shafali Verma put down a straightforward catch – Renuka again was the unlucky bowler. In between, there was a wild heave at Renuka that saw the ball miss leg stump and beat the keeper for four byes.

But Dunkley and her opening partner Danni Wyatt (24) managed to give England a good start in the powerplay. Alice Capsey (32 not out) put on an unbeaten 74-run stand for the second wicket with Dunkley to see the hosts home with 42 balls to spare.

Brief Scores

India: 132 for 7 (Deepti 29*; Glenn 4/23)

England: 134 for 1 (Dunkley 61*)

Red-hot Robert Lewandowski scores again

The goals keep coming for Robert Lewandowski at Barcelona since moving to Bayern Munich earlier this season. The Polish forward netted his ninth goal in five games in five La Liga games. Barcelona defeated Cadiz 4-0.

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Frenkie de Jong started the goal rush for Barcelona in the 55th minute. Lewandowski assisted Ansu Fati before Ousmane Dembele struck from long range to make it a rout.

A fourth win in a row in the Spanish league lifted Barcelona to the top of the standings, one point ahead of Real Madrid before the defending champions host Mallorca on Sunday.

Barcelona will be up against Bayern Munich in the Champions League, a team that has dominated it in recent seasons when they met in Europe. Bayern humiliated Barcelona 8-2 in 2020 and beat the Spanish club twice by the score of 3-0 last year.