Ons Jabeur became the first African woman in the Open era to reach a Grand
Slam singles final on Thursday when she defeated close friend Tatjana Maria in
the Wimbledon semi-finals.
اضافة اعلان
The 27-year-old world number two from Tunisia triumphed 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 and
will face Elena Rybakina in Saturday's championship match.
Russian-born Rybakina, representing Kazakhstan, knocked out 2019 champion Simona
Halep 6-3, 6-3.
"I'm a proud Tunisian woman standing here," said Jabeur, who was
the first Arab player to make a Slam semi-final.
Before Thursday, South Africans Irene Bowder Peacock, at the 1927 French
Open, and Renee Schuurman, in the 1959 Australian Open, were the only African
women to have reached a Slam singles final.
"It's a dream come true from years of work and sacrifice. I'm happy
that's paid off and I'll continue for one more match," said Jabeur.
"Physically, Tatjana is a beast, she doesn't give up -- I thought she
would give up -- her touch, her serve and everything on the court is
impressive. I hope she continues this way. Let's not play again, I'm good for
now.
"I know in Tunisia they are going crazy right now. I want to see more
Arab and African players on the tour. I love the game and I want to share the
experience with them."
Jabeur coasted through the first set against mother-of-two Maria with breaks
in the third and seventh games.
The Tunisian fired 15 winners to her opponent's six in the first set while
not facing a single break point.
However, Maria, described by Jabeur as her "barbecue buddy", did
manage to finally break through for 3-1 in the second set off the back of a
series of delicate slices.
Jabeur's 17 unforced errors in the second set compared to the six of the
more accurate German, who levelled the contest.
But there was to be no upset win as the 103rd-ranked Maria's challenge was
quashed.
Jabeur secured a double break for a 5-0 advantage before securing her place
in history on a second match point.
- 'Amazing match' -
Rybakina overpowered former champion Halep, breaking the Romanian four times
in a dominant display on Centre Court.
"It was really good -- today I was mentally prepared and did everything
I could and it was an amazing match," said the 23-year-old.
"I think it's going to be a great match (against Jabeur). She's a great
player, very tricky player. It's not going to be easy to play against her drop
shots and volleys."
Former world number one Halep had not lost a set coming into Thursday's
match but was immediately under pressure against the big-serving 17th seed.
Rybakina, who stands six feet (1.84 metres) tall, raced into a 3-0 lead with
an early break of serve and had break points in all of Halep's service games in
the first set.
Halep, seeded one place above her opponent, did well to stay in touch but
failed to carve out any break points of her own in the first set.
Rybakina, the first woman representing Kazakhstan to reach a Grand Slam
semi-final, showed no mercy at the start of the second set, breaking again to
establish an iron grip.
Halep broke to love in the fourth game to establish a foothold but a double
fault in the following game handed the initiative back to her opponent.
Rybakina, the ace leader in the women's tournament, sealed an impressive win
on her first match point with a backhand winner down the line to break Halep
again, wrapping up the match in 76 minutes.
The 23-year-old switched her nationality to Kazakhstan in 2018 to take
advantage of greater financial help.
Russian and Belarusian players were banned from this year's Wimbledon
following the invasion of
Ukraine.
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