Ons Jabeur will be playing in the 2023 Charleston Open final after dealing with difficult conditions on Saturday.
The second-seeded Tunisian took on the third-seeded Daria Kasatkina in the battle for the final spot at the WTA 500 event in Charleston. Both players were coming into the semifinal match knowing that it's probably their best week of the season so far.
In the past, they met six times on the WTA Tour and while Kasatkina won the first two matches, Jabeur won in the following four meetings, with the last two being also on clay courts.
In the first set, Kasatkina started much better, breaking her opponent two times and leading 4-1 and 5-2. However, the rain stopped the play after the Tunisian broke her serve and a four-hour rain delay wouldn't help the Russian.
After the players returned to the court, Jabeur was inspired to come back in the first set and she did exactly that despite facing two set points in the ninth game. And so with the rain delay included, the world no. 5 won the first set 7-5 after almost five hours.
Kasatkina started better also in the second set, but once again, she lost her lead. Jabeur just found the lines when she needed them and that resulted in a 7-5, 7-5 victory and the first final of the 2023 season.
Since all top four seeded players made the semifinals in Charleston, Jabeur will face a difficult opponent in the final, fighting for 470 points for the champion. It's going to be either the first-seeded Jessica Pegula or the fourth-seeded Belinda Bencic. After the semifinal win, Jabeur said:
"Dasha never lets you get a point easy. She makes you run all around the court, she’s such a competitor. It was a great match from both of us. Hopefully, Pegula and Bencic will play longer than us."
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