Ons Jabeur bested Aryna Sabalenka at Wimbledon, and now it was payback time as the Belarusian won at the 2023 Cincinnati Masters.
It was a very painful loss for Sabalenka at the All England Club, especially after how close she was to winning. She had the match under control but crumbled to allow Jabeur a chance, and the Tunisian never let it go. One can't help but wonder whether Sabalenka would have had better luck against Vondrousova in the final if she beat Jabeur.
In any case, Sabalenka finally got a chance to play Jabeur again, and she proved better. The match was great as the players gave it their all. They battled well, but Sabalanka was just slightly better. Most of the time, that's enough, and it also proved that way this time.
The opening set saw the players trade breaks early, but eventually, Sabalenka once again jumped out ahead. She was giving Jabeur a lot of trouble with her power though the Tunisian was able to win some of those rallies as well.
She actually pulled back the lead to make it 5-5 but then dropped her serve once more, and that was the end of the first set. The second set saw Jabeur play a bit better, taking an early lead, but then problems arose. She had physical problems as she took a long medical timeout up 3-2 in the second set.
It was obvious that she was struggling with something, and she lost her serve in that game to allow Sabalenka to turn the match around. Sabalenka then worked her way to another break point and converted that, too, to take a 5-3 lead.
From there, it was a simple cruise towards the finish line as the final score was 7-5, 6-3. A good effort from Jabeur, but a physical problem derailed the second set completely. Sabalenka will face Karolina Muchova in another Grand Slam rematch from earlier this year.
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