Ons Jabeur has suffered a shock exit from the Guadalajara Open after being edged out in three sets by Italy’s Martina Trevisan.

The world No.7 was leading the match by a set and a break before losing 6-7(4), 7-5, 6-3, in a marathon match that lasted more than three hours. Jabeur looked to be in control after breaking her rival midway through the second set before losing her advantage in the following game. Later in the same set she was two points away from victory after nudging ahead 5-4 but was unable to tame Trevisan who broke her twice in the third set en route to victory. 

It is the second tournament in a row that Jabeur has failed to win back-to-back matches after losing in the second round of the San Diego Open earlier this month. It is the first time she has lost to a player outside the top 50 since the Eastbourne International in June. 

Meanwhile, Trevisan has become the first player from her country to have reached the quarter-finals of multiple WTA 1000 tournaments within the same season since 2015. She also reached the quarter-finals of the Miami Open in March. In the next round, she will play America’s Caroline Dolehide. 

Sakkari benefitting from going solo

There was better news for second seed Maria Sakkari who dropped just four games during her 6-2, 6-2, win over Camila Giorgi. Despite dropping serve twice, the Greek broke Giorgi six times and won 72% of her first service points. She has now won 31 matches so far this season. 

“I love playing here. The love of the crowd is just very unique and very special to me. I just really enjoy my time here. There are only positives about this place for me and my tennis,” said Sakkari.
“I had to be very solid, which I was. Camila hits very strong and very powerful. I tried to make a lot of balls and make her work. I feel like day by day my game is getting better.” She added. 

This week the 28-year-old has been reunited with her coach Tom Hill after it was decided that he wouldn’t be accopanying Sakkari at her previous tournament in San Diego. The decision to have some time to herself appears to have paid off for the multiple Grand Slam semi-finalist who says she has identified areas of her game to work on. 

“It feels good again to have Tom back. I think that it was very important for me to have that week by myself. I just really discovered some things that I wanted to change on the court, on the practice court. Tom is on board with those.” She explained.
“I believe that it was a healthy decision and that it’s going to help me a lot in the future.”

Sakkari faces Colombia’s Emiliana Arango in the next round. She is bidding to win her first title since 2019. 

Elsewhere in the tournament, Victoria Azarenka cruised past Veronika Kudermetova 6-2, 6-1, to set up a showdown with France’s Caroline Garcia. It is the 25th time in her career that she has reached the last eight of a hardcourt WTA 1000 event. 

Iga Swiatek says she doesn’t consider her run at this year’s US Open as a ‘total failure’ despite losing her No.1 ranking. 

The 22-year-old dropped only nine games in her first three matches played at Flushing Meadows before crashing out in the fourth round to Jelena Ostapenko. Swiatek won the opening set against the Latvian before losing 12 out of the next 15 games played. It was the second time Swiatek has lost in the fourth round of a major event this season after the Australian Open. 

Reflecting on that defeat, the Pole is maintaining an upbeat mentality despite the consequences it has had. Her reign at world No.1 has come to an end with Aryna Sabalenka now leading the rankings. She won the US Open title in 2022. 

“It wasn’t the first time I lost in the fourth round. I don’t consider it a total failure, as many people say,” she told Eurosport. “I know a tournament like this can happen. Even last year I was very close to being eliminated in the fourth round. Sometimes you can get out of a situation like that, sometimes you can’t.”

Swiatek admits she doesn’t enjoy paying against former French Open champion Ostapenko, who she has lost to in all four of their Tour meetings. So far this season, Ostapenko has beaten three top 10 players with the other two being Daria Kasatkina and Coco Gauff. 

“I don’t like playing with Ostapenko,” she stated. “There are simply some players who are uncomfortable to play with. I bet she has the opposite situation and she especially likes my style. This is completely natural in tennis.’
“There is no point in falling into a catastrophe, we have to move forward,” she added. 

Besides her US Open disappointment, Swiatek has won four titles this year – one WTA 250, two WTA 500’s and a Grand Slam (French Open). The only other player to have won this amount of titles on the women’s Tour is Gauff. Overall, she has won 56 matches. 

Looking ahead to the future, Swiatek has hinted that she might revise her Tour calendar to give her more time to train between tournaments. Suggesting that she might have been able to develop more as an athlete if she didn’t have the No.1 spot. 

“The truth is that there was little time to train. This is the second season in which I have played the most games among all the girls and I suffered two injuries. (…) I think that, if I were not the leader of the world ranking, I would have much more time to develop as an athlete,” she commented.
“Next season we will definitely think about the calendar. I’m the type of player who needs a full week or two to improve my technique. Because it can always happen that the technique fails, you start to panic and think in your head what to do to play better.”

Swiatek is set to return to competitive tennis next week at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Japan. 

The top two players in this year’s field at the Guadalajara Open say they are not feeling the pressure following their opening wins at the WTA 1000 event. 

Top seed Ons Jabur kicked-off her campaign with a straightforward 6-2, 6-2, win over Alycia Parks who is currently ranked 38 places lower than her in the WTA standings. The Tunisian only dropped her serve once in the match and won 83% of her first service points. She now leads Parks 3-0 in their head-to-head.

It is only the third time this season that Jabeur has been the top seed of a tournament after Adelaide where she reached the semi-finals and San Diego where she lost her opening match. 

“I try to see it as a good pressure. I’ve been in this situation a couple of times,” she commented on the position during her press conference. “One time I handled it very well, the other time not. So let’s see.”
“I’m just trying to enjoy and not overthink about being seeded No. 1, and try to be here, and hopefully it’s going to be great.”

The world No.7 will next play Maria Trevisan who beat compatriot Jasmine Paolini 7-5, 6-2. It will be the first time the two players have clashed on the Tour since 2021. 

Also through to the next round is second seed Maria Sakkari who is seeking her first singles title since 2019. The Greek eased to a 6-2, 6-4, win over Australia’s Storm Hunter. Sakkari is hoping to get some momentum back into her tennis heading into the final stage of the season. In her past five tournaments played, she has only won back-to-back matches in one of them.

“I think it was a very solid match. It was a little tricky in the second set. But at the same time, it was good that I put myself in that situation and I overcame it. I’m very happy to be in the third round.” She said after defeating Hunter. 

One thing playing in Sakkari’s favour is the support she has been receiving from the locals. She says the event feels like ‘home’ to her but does being the local favourite add more pressure for her?

“For me, it’s not pressure, it’s just motivation to just stay here until Saturday,” she replied “I just feel like that would be amazing. That would be something that I really want. I just want to keep feeling that energy and love from the people every single day.”

Sakkari will next play camila Giorgi. 

Other winners in Guadalajara include Caroline Garcia who ousted Aliaksandra Sasnovich 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-4, after almost three hours of play. However, Madison Keys has become the highest-ranked player to fall in the tournament so far after losing in straight sets to Emma Navarro. 

The winner of this week’s tournament will earn $454,500 in prize money.