Ons Jabeur is out of the Indian Wells Open after losing to the No. 131 Katie Volynets.
The Tunisian has not had an easy time in the last few months. She had started the 2024 season slowly before this match, which included a thrashing at the Australian Open by teenage prodigy Mirra Andreeva.
Ironically, Volynets shocked Andreeva in the previous round in Indian Wells. It meant the California born Volynets did enter this match with some confidence after getting such a great win in front of her local fans.
Yet, Jabeur would still expect to beat Volynets if near her best. After all, Jabeur once came close to being the No. 1 in the world, with Iga Swiatek the No. 1 before the sunshine double began.
Unfortunately, Jabeur's game is not currently in that positive place, and that was demonstrated very clearly throughout this contest against the gritty and determined Volynets.
Jabeur did not look comfortable from the start of the contest. Although she managed some trademark moments of magic such as a couple of incredible drop shots, Volynets' consistency was leading to a lot of errors.
There were four consecutive breaks of serve from 2-1 in the opening set, with Volynets continuing to read the Jabeur serve better and better throughout the set. Volynets broke Jabeur's serve again and served it out to take the set 6-4.
Jabeur did settle down more on serve at the start of the second set with three comfortable holds of serve. Unfortunately, she became even more wild on return and from the baseline, meaning she could not put any pressure on Volynets.
A loose service game then cost Jabeur dearly in the seventh game. She began to miss her groundstrokes by even wider margins and also seemed to be struggling physically against the athletic Volynets.
After losing serve, Jabeur never looked like mounting a comeback. Her body language was not good and that made it even easier for the American to serve out the match and win 6-4 6-4 to claim the biggest win of her career.
Despite Jabeur's struggles, Volynets deserves immense credit for her performance. She combined great defense with impressive technical skills to secure a victory she will never forget.
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