Ons Jabeur wrote her name in the history books by becoming the first Arab woman to win a WTA 1000 event at the 2022 Madrid Open.
The Tunisian entered the event as arguably one of the dark horses due to how she performed in the weeks leading up to it. She made the Charleston Open final, which she lost to Belinda Bencic, and also played well in Stuttgart, where she lost to Paula Badosa.
Making the final in the Spanish capital was hugely important for Jabeur, who had never stood in a WTA 1000 final before that one. Her opponent in the final was Jessica Pegula, who didn’t have the best time leading up to the event but found some form with the conditions playing the way she likes it.
Madrid is a high-altitude city, which makes it very unique among clay courts. It is a high-bouncing clay court, but the balls fly much faster due to the thinner air, making it a very quick clay court. That suits baseliners like Pegula, who bested a good group of players en route to the final (Camila Giorgi, Kaia Kanepi, Bianca Andreescu, Sara Sorribes Tormo, Jill Teichmann).
Jabeur had an even better run, beating Jasmine Paolini, Varvara Gracheva, Belinda Bencic, Simona Halep, and Ekaterina Alexandrova. The final itself was a huge one for both players, the first WTA 1000 final for both players.
Both were in form and eager to play well because it would be the biggest trophy either had won up until that point. As neither had won much, it was a must-win for both. The match ended up being quite competitive, and it started somewhat surprisingly.
Pegula was better and opened with an early break, which transformed into a 4-1 lead. Despite having a set point, Pegula wasn’t able to close out the opening set as Jabeur stormed back to win it 7-5.
The shocking end to the set didn’t discourage Pegula, who played a fantastic second set, winning it in 27 minutes. It was a bagel 6-0 for the American, who looked poised to turn around the match.
Despite the momentum being hugely in her corner, Jabeur ultimately found what she had been missing the whole match and easily outplayed the American to win the final set 6-2 and the match 7-5, 0-6, 6-2.
It was a superb win for Jabeur, who was the best player that week in Madrid. She overcame multiple great opponents, playing superb tennis throughout and never backing down even when things went wrong.
Three of the six matches played were won in three sets, and two of those even featured her losing a set with a bagel. Even so, she fought back and won those matches and, ultimately, the trophy.