Ons Jabeur has sealed a place in her second consecutive Wimbledon final after staging a marathon comeback to oust Aryna Sabalenka.
The sixth seed prevailed 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3, in a rollercoaster encounter that lasted more than two hours. At one stage of the match, Jabeur looked to be on the verge of defeat after trailing by a set and 2-4 to the Belarussian. Sabalenka is the third top 10 player she has defeated in the tournament this year after Petra Kvitova and Elena Rybakina. The last player to get such a trio of wins at the tournament was Serena Williams in 2012.
Jabeur’s victory means that Iga Swiatek will keep her No.1 position next week. The Pole would have lost the top spot if Sabalenka had won the semi-final encounter.
“It was very difficult with her shots and her serves,” Jabeur said afterwards.
“I’m working a lot with my mental coach about this. I might be writing a book about it!
“I’m very proud of myself because maybe the old me would have lost this match today and I would’ve been back home already.
“I’m finding the strength.”
Coming into the semi-finals Sabalenka has only been broken six times in her five previous matches. However, her serve was constantly under pressure throughout a tense opening set that consisted of very fine margins. Best illustrated by a 9-minute service game where she saved two break points. Facing some ferocious shotmaking from Jabeur, Sabalenka narrowly came out on top in the tiebreaker. Hitting a deep return that drew an unforced error from across the net, she sealed a mini break for 6-4 before closing the set out with the help of a 112 mph serve two points later.
Continuing to dampen the spirits of her opponent, Sabalenka struck once again five games into the second set. A deep return painted the baseline to draw an unforced error from Jabeur which rewarded her a trio of break points. She then converted with the help of a double fault from the world No.6.
The Jabeur fightback started when she broke back to level 4-4. Prompting her to produce a fist clench towards her camp in the stands. Increasing the intensity of her shotmaking, she went on to break one more time before forcing that match into a decider. A devastating blow to Sabalenka who had a point to lead 5-3.
Continuing to turn the momentum around in her favour, Jabeur’s next blow occurred midway through the decider when a Sabalenka shot landed out and granted her a break for 4-2. From that moment on she battled to the finish line. Four match points during two separate games came and went before she finally closed the match out with an ace.
“I’m learning to transform the bad energy into good,” Jabeur explained. “She (Sabalenka) can ace any time, she can hit a big serve if I’m at break point and that’s frustrating a bit, but it can happen.”
Jabeur will next play Marketa Vondrousova who beat Elina Svitolina in straight sets earlier today. They are currently tied at 3-3 in their head-to-head.
“I was watching [the other semi-final]. Marketa [Vondrousova] is a great player,” she commented.
“I’ve already lost twice to her this year. I guess going for my revenge again is working.
“Hopefully the crowd will be here.”
