LONDON: Fresh from her tournament win in Manchester, Ons Jabeur has been handed a wildcard for Wimbledon and pitched against a Swiss opponent she has a 100 percent record against.
Jabeur, the world 130 from Tunisia, has been paired with Viktorija Golubic in the first round of the grass-court slam and they will play when the tournament gets underway on Monday.
Jabeur will go into the clash on the crest of a wave after winning an ITF $100,000 title in Manchester earlier this month without dropping a set. The 23-year-old jumped up nearly 50 places in the rankings on the back of what was the biggest payday of her career.
The right-hander from Tunis will earn £39,000 ($51,000) for her morning’s work on Monday, but there is the carrot of £69,000 in the second round where she will meet either CoCo. Vandeweghe, the 16th seed, or Kateřina Siniaková.
Jabeur lost in the first round last year to Svetlana Kuznetsova, which was a blow as a few months earlier she had become the first Arab woman to reach the third round of a Grand Slam singles tournament, knocking out Dominika Cibulkova on her run at the French Open. Jabeur clearly likes the clay as it was at Roland Garros in 2011 when she won the Girls’ Singles title.
Now Jabeur must get her grass game together and she will surely take confidence from her flawless record against Golubic. She has beaten the world No.99 twice on grass in England this year and also on a hard court in France in 2014, losing just one set in three matches.
She knows she is flying the flag for the region when she swings her racket.
“Well, when I win, I represent the Arab world. When I lose, I try to be just Ons Jabeur,” she said in an interview last year. “We are small country. The Arab world is like when you do something good, you’re from Tunisia, and from Morocco, other Arab country, they get interested in you.
“For me, it’s not only about Tunisia anymore, and it’s all about the Arab country, African continent. It’s amazing, because I feel like my country is getting bigger and bigger.”
Arab wildcard Ons Jabeur handed Wimbledon shot
Arab wildcard Ons Jabeur handed Wimbledon shot
- The world 130 from Tunisia will play in London slam on Monday
- The right-hander will play Viktorija Golubic, the Swiss ranked 99 in the world
Marmoush, Salah strike as Egypt edge out holders Ivory Coast in quarter-final
- Egypt wasted little time in taking the lead as Marmoush scored in the fourth minute
- That set up a siege of the Egyptian goal in the final 15 minutes but they held out to advance
AGADIR, Morocco: Omar Marmoush netted the opener and Mohamed Salah scored the decisive goal as Egypt ended Ivory Coast’s reign with a narrow 3-2 triumph in Saturday’s Africa Cup of Nations quarter-final.
Center back Rami Rabia was the other scorer for the Egyptians, who had little possession at the Grande Stade Agadir but took their chances with clinical precision and held on grimly to book a semifinal meeting with Senegal on Wednesday.
An own goal from Ahmed Fatouh and a late effort by Guela Doue proved insufficient for the Ivory Coast, winners of the tournament on home soil two years ago but now deposed as African champions.
Egypt, who have won a record seven Cup of Nations titles, wasted little time in taking the lead as Marmoush scored in the fourth minute after Hamdi Fathy pinched the ball from Franck Kessie in the midfield, allowing Emam Ashour to thread a pinpoint ball to the sprinting Marmoush. He still needed to shrug off the attentions of defender Odilon Kossounou before slotting home.
But it quickly became clear the Ivorians were going to dominate possession, showing much more physical strength on the ball but without setting up clear chances.
Egypt went 2-0 up in the 32nd minute when Rabia rose above the defenders to head his side further ahead from a corner.
The Ivory Coast, who had 70 percent of possession in the first half, reduced the deficit eight minutes later when teenager Yann Diomande’s freekick near the corner took a slight brush off Kossounou’s head and ricocheted off the knee of full back Fatouh and into the net.
SALAH FINISHED OFF CLEVER MOVE
The Ivorians had come from 2-0 down to beat Gabon 3-2 earlier in the tournament but hopes of turning the scoreline around soon after the re-start were stymied by a simply created, but superbly finished, goal for Salah seven minutes after the break.
Rabia was well inside his own half when he chipped the ball over the top of the Ivorian defensive line, allowing Ashour to run onto it and hit an accurate pass with the outside of his right boot into the path of Salah to score.
An Ivorian comeback was still on when Doue touched home at the end of a goalmouth scramble in the 73rd minute.
That set up a siege of the Egyptian goal in the final 15 minutes but they held out to advance.
Earlier on Saturday, Nigeria overpowered Algeria 2-0 in Marrakech and will take on hosts Morocco in the other semifinal.
