London [UK]: The No.6 seed Ons Jabeur produced a stunning comeback against World No.2 Aryna Sabalenka to reach the women’s singles final in the ongoing Wimbledon 2023 on Thursday.
Jabeur came out victorious in a hard-fought contest as she defeated Sabalenka 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 on Centre Court to book a place in her third career Grand Slam final, and second straight at the All England Club. Jabeur is the first woman to reach back-to-back finals at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2018-19. With a win over Sabalenka, the No.6 seed set a Wimbledon final clash against Marketa Vondrousova.
Vondrousova made a thriving trip into her second career Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 6-3 triumph over Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon semifinals on Thursday.
Sabalenka won by a set and a break, 7-6(5), 4-2, after rallying from 4-2 down in the first-set tiebreak to reach her second major final and claim the World No. 1 position.
However, Jabeur erased two opportunities Sabalenka had for 5-3 before breaking her serve for the first time all match to re-enter the match. She won four straight games in the middle set and broke Sabalenka in the sixth game of the final to win the match.
Sabalenka survived two match points on her serve in the eighth game, and when two more passed Jabeur by from 40-0 up in the final game, she pounded down an ace to secure the deal after two hours and 19 minutes. It was her first of the set and only her third of the match, to Sabalenka’s ten.
“I’m working a lot with my mental coach who’s been helping me a lot and I might be writing a book about it. I’m very proud of me, the old me maybe would have lost that match but I’m glad I kept digging deep and finding the strength,” Jabeur said after the match.
“I’m learning to transform bad energy into good energy. After the anger of the first set I just tried to stay focused. I’m accepting it, digging deep to go and win this match, and hopefully this tournament,” she added.
