Jabeur Stages Incredible Comeback In Her First Match Since Wimbledon Heartbreak

| by Evita Mueller

Ons Jabeur made a return at the Cincinnati Masters, and it was a happy one as she defeated Anhelina Kalinina.

This was the first match Jabeur played since the Wimbledon heartbreak, and it was a very strange one. It might or might not help her with confidence, considering that she threw away a win but then also staged an incredible comeback. The opponent was Kalinina, a player she beat in their only previous meeting on the WTA Tour, but this one was much closer.

Jabeur was initially scheduled to return at the Canadian Open last week but withdrew due to an injury. We didn't see any signs of any kind of physical ailment in this one as the Tunisian looked really strong to start the match but terrible midway through, only to be brilliant at the end of it again.

Kalinina is a clay court expert who can be solid on hard courts but generally isn't that great. The first set was very strong from Jabeur, who served well, which made everything a lot easier. She lost only a couple of points behind her serve and converted one of 6 break points she had on the serve of Kalinina.

2023 Cincinnati Masters ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview
2023 Cincinnati Masters ATP & WTA Prize Money & Points Overview

It's a pretty big part of the season for Jabeur who played in the US Open final last year. Any matches she can play before the event will help her prepare better and wins like this matter as she tries to build up that resilience.

She faced 15-40 down 1-2 in the second set and failed to wiggle out of that giving her opponent the lead. She would pull back that break immediately and stabilize her play after that. Slowly pushing more and more Jabeur ultimately broke her opponent once more to take a 5-4 lead.

She didn't finish it off, giving Kalinina a lifeline. Jabeur had to play a tiebreak in the second set but lost it comfortably 2-7 and it went downhill from there. She was on the verge of losing the match as she was down 1-5 in the final set.

Kalinina failed to serve out the match allowing Jabeur a comeback, and when the train started rolling there was no stopping. The Tunisian finished it off in the tiebreak. The final score was 6-3 6-7(2) 7-6(2).

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