By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Sunday April 9, 2023
Ons Jabeur battled past defending champion Belinda Bencic in Charleston for her fourth career title.
Photo Source: TTV
When the green dust settled in Charleston, it was Ons Jabeur holding the trophy aloft.
The trailblazing Tunisian exacted revenge for a three-set loss to Belinda Bencic in last year’s Charleston final, battling past the Swiss in an entertaining tussle in Credit One Stadium, 7-6(6), 6-4, for her fourth career title and first on US Soil.
Jabeur, who entered this month under an injury cloud after undergoing a minor knee surgery in February and winning just one of three matches in March, looks fit and ready to make her mark on the WTA Tour during the clay season.
“It means a lot to me,” Jabeur said after winning the title. “Really crazy tournament, a lot of emotions, coming from injuries and not knowing how I'm gonna play here on clay, but everything started slowly (to click). I feel like I played amazing, especially at the end of the first set.”
To raise the trophy Jabeur had to overcome a tough test from Bencic, who entered the final riding a 10-match Charleston winning streak after polishing off top-seeded Jessica Pegula earlier on Sunday in a match that was held over after rain suspended play in a second-set tiebreak.
Bencic had a 5-3 lead in the opener, and later saved five set point to forced a second-set tiebreak, before holding two set points of her own in the breaker.
But Jabeur finished off the set and quickly opened up a double-break 4-1 in the second set that proved to be too wide a gap for the Swiss to make up.
Not for lack of effort, however, as Bencic closed to within a break and had a trio of break points with Jabeur serving for the match at 5-4.
But again the Tunisian held firm and closed out her victory in one hour and 59 minutes.
Jabeur has now won 38 matches on clay since the start of 2020 – more than any other player.
Having regained her confidence, she believes this clay-court season could be a good one for her.
“I'm excited to go to Stuttgart, Madrid, Rome,” she said. “Clay is really amazing and I love it. I am working on a lot of things. And it's going my way, so for me: step by step, and I'm going for the Grand Slam this year.”
Shot of the Tournament
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Jabeur’s incredible tweener, which propelled her to a critical break in the opening set against Bencic. It’s a shot of the year candidate, for sure.
“The ball was coming at me and I had to do something – you know me with the trick shots, I just love it. I need to watch that point again… Just glad that I won that point really.”