By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Thursday July 13, 2023
Ons Jabeur rallied from a set down for the third time at Wimbledon this year, reaching the final with a hard-fought win over Aryna Sabalenka.
Photo Source: Getty
Ons Jabeur left Wimbledon heartbroken in 2022, falling one step shy of her lifelong dream after a tremendous fortnight that saw her become the first Arab and Tunisian player to ever reach a Grand Slam final.
Fast forward a year, and the determined Tunisian is back for another go.
Jabeur rallied from a set down to defeat second-seeded Aryna Sabalenka, 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, setting a Centre Court final with Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic on Saturday at the All England Club.
“I have no words to say,” she told the crowd. “It was very very difficult accepting her serves and her shots, so thank you guys for cheering for me until the last moment and believing in me.”
Jabeur, who has rallied from a set down to win three times at these Championships, becomes the fourth player to knock off four former Grand Slam champions – Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Sabalenka – at the same major.
The 28-year-old is also the first woman to defeat three Top 10 opponents – Kvitova, Rybakina and Sabalenka – at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2012.
Jabeur was brilliant from the service stripe, particularly in the final set that saw her drop just four points on serve. For the contest the No.6 seed won 42 of 57 first-serve points, and 23 of 36 second-serve points as she saved two of three break points.
After dropping a high-quality first set in a tiebreak, Jabeur fell further behind but rallied from a set and 4-2 down, taking the final four games of the middle set. She then capitalized on her momentum in the third set, converting her third break point of the sixth game of the final set to take a lead that she would never relinquish.
“I'm very proud of myself because maybe the old me would have lost the match today and went back home already, but I'm glad that I kept digging very deep and finding the strength.”
I'm learning to transform the bad energy into a good one, so the anger that I had from this first set, I I tried to stay focused. Some things I have no control over. She can ace any time, she can hit the big serve even if I have a break point and that's frustrating a bit, but I'm glad that I'm accepting it, and digging deep, to just go and win this match – and hopefully this tournament.”
After Sabalenka saved a pair of match points while serving at 2-5 in the third, the Belarusian saved two more with the Tunisian serving for the win.
Undeterred, Jabeur converted her fifth match point to lock up the victory, hammering her second ace of the match out wide before raising her arms aloft in celebration.
Sabalenka, who would have risen to No.1 in the WTA rankings after Wimbledon had she emerged victorious, drops to 1-5 in major semifinals lifetime, as her three-match winning streak over Jabeur was snapped.
Jabeur improves to 3-0 lifetime in major semifinals.
The Tunisian trailblazer's squeaky clean performance featured 27 winners against just 14 unforced errors, while Sabalenka cracked 39 winners against 45 unforced errors.
Jabeur is 17-5 lifetime at Wimbledon, and 3-3 against Vondrousova, including a win in their lone meeting on grass in 2021 at Eastbourne.