After losing to Elena Rybakina in the final last year, Ons Jabeur pulled off a sensational comeback win over the Kazakhstani player to secure the semi-final at Wimbledon.
Elena Rybakina was widely considered the most likely to win Wimbledon leading up to the event being named as the the best player on grass by Andy Roddick. She didn't have an ideal prep for the event playing only a handful of matches but she played fairly well in the earlier rounds.
The Kazakhstani player won a few matches, and also advanced thanks to retirement, and admitted that she was feeling better and better with each one, and it showed on the court. This one was another interesting one as she faced some issues for much of it, she was on top. Jabeur had her chances, but it took her a really long time to finally find some solutions.
The first set finished in a very loose tiebreak after Jabeur failed to serve out the opening set. She won the first set last year but despite holding a set point, but this year, she didn't. In the tiebreak, it was Rybakina who proved better.
Funnily enough, it was Jabeur who was more aggressive in the rallies, but she didn't serve as well as she needed to, and it cost her. The second set pretty much followed a similar pattern though Rybakina started to be a bit more aggressive this time around.
The final set opened with a total turnaround by Ons Jabeur as she jumped out to an early 3-0 lead. Rybakina struggled immensely with her serve, and while Jabeur wasn't that much better, the Tunisian doesn't rely as much on her serve as Rybakina does.
The Kazakhstani player was also showing more nerves as she was missing a fair bit more compared to the start of the match. She had a really solid chance down 1-3 when she had 40-15 on the serve of Jabeur but failed to convert that as Jabeur held for 4-1.
That was her big chance as she completely faltered after that. Jabeur broke once more for the 5-1 lead and finished it off with a confident service game. The final score was 6-7(5) 6-4 6-1 for Jabeur, who had 8 aces, 35 winners, and 18 unforced errors, and will now play against Aryna Sabalenka, who defeated Madison Keys for a spot in the final.
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