Ons Jabeur finally got another trophy as the Tunisian finished off a good week at the 2023 Ningbo Open with a win over Diana Shnaider in the final.
Jabeur had high hopes last week in Guadalajara, hoping to use a depleted field to go deep at the WTA 1000 event, but it didn't happen. She got a chance to fix that in Ningbo, and she did by winning her first match comfortably and then cruising after that.
Today's final against Diana Shnaider was handled about as well as you can hope. The Russian is a solid and up-and-coming player but certainly one that lacks experience, especially when it comes to finals. Jabeur needed to win this match, and she kept it relatively simple, which is crucial for her.
She has an affinity to complicate things far more than needed, but that wasn't the case today. The opening set started with an early break, and Jabeur then added another one to cruise to the finish line 6-2. She was just outplaying her opponent comfortably in most rallies.
The second set was much of the same as Shnaider could not match Jabeur. Her inexperience also showed at times, and the Tunisian had an easy job finishing the match. The final score was 6-2 6-1 for Jabeur, who won her second trophy of the year after Charleston.
It's her 5th career trophy, which is a nice milestone for her, but the significance of this goes beyond her just getting a trophy. It will stabilize her in the Top 10 and give her a solid amount of points in the race to Cancun. Jabeur was number 8 before this event, and this will get her closer to number 7.
It will be a tough battle for the last few remaining spots at the WTA Finals, and this is a huge win for her.