Ons Jabeur isn't enjoying the best weeks of her career on the WTA Tour, and her loss to Anastasia Potapova at the 2023 San Diego Open only proved that.
After waiting for another Grand Slam final for almost one year, the Tunisian finally got a chance to win a major at the 2023 Wimbledon. Yet, once again, Jabeur lost in the Wimbledon final, marking her third Grand Slam final loss.
After that, the 29-year-old had another final participation points to defend, this time at the US Open. However, she struggled with a mysterious illness, and this time around, Jabeur was eliminated early at Flushing Meadows.
After these two disappointments, Jabeur could again focus on non-Grand Slam part of the season, entering the 2023 San Diego Open as the top seed. However, after avoiding a first-round match thanks to a bye, the Tunisian played against talented Anastasia Potapova from Russia already in the second round.
The Russian is ranked 27th in the WTA Rankings, proving that she's one of the contenders at any event that she enters. The two met only once before, and it was a win for Jabeur on grass courts in Birmingham.
But this time around, it was a different story. The first set was marked by multiple chances for both players, as they both had multiple break points. The Tunisian had six chances to break, while her Russian opponent had eight, and this time, more chances meant also more breaks for Potapova, who won the set 6-4.
Although the second set featured a similar amount of breaks, this time, the number of breaks was equal on both sides, meaning that the second set of this second-round match in San Diego had to be decided in a tie-break.
Jabeur totally missed the start of it, with Potapova jumping out into a 4-0 lead. Yet, the Tunisian levelled the score at 4-4, only to lose the last three points of the tie-break, and with it also the second set and the match with Potapova winning 6-4, 7-6(4), to set up a quarterfinal clash with Sofia Kenin.
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