LONDON: Ons Jabeur claimed one of the biggest scalps of her career when she knocked former world No. 2 Vera Zvonareva out of the Bucharest Open.
The Tunisia ace had been pitched against the Russian in a tricky last 16 tie of the tournament on clay, but she rose to the challenge, winning 6-2, 6-2.
Jabeur will now meet another Russian, Polona Hercog, in the quarterfinal of the event which carries a prize fund of $250,000.
The win over Zvonareva will give Jabeur huge confidence as this was an opponent who reached the final of Wimbledon and the US Open in 2010 and who won the doubles at the Australian Open in 2012 and the US Open in 2006.
Perfection from @Ons_Jabeur #BRDBucharestOpen
- Fake dropshop
- Dropshot - Lob combo #TheBeautyOfWTA pic.twitter.com/LXTQVx2Brl— Ardeal (@UnArdeal) July 20, 2018
Zvonareva has since dropped to 142 in the world rankings and Jabeur was probably the favorite having risen to 123 in the world, but Zvonareva still boasted that big-match experience and it will do wonders for Jabeur's belief that she was able to put away a player of pedigree with such ease.
Jabeur's form in Bucharest continues the good run of form the 23-year-old has been on this year. She reached the second round of Wimbledon for the first time ever, pocketing £108,000 ($142,000) and becoming the first Arab woman to win a singles match at Wimbledon since her compatriot Selima Sfar in 2005. She also won a ITF $100,000 title in Manchester earlier this month without dropping a set.
Jabeur began the week with a straight-sets win over home favorite Irina-Camelia Begu, who was watched by world No. 1 Simona Halep.
What an honor @Simona_Halep https://t.co/tcz2hfktgW
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) July 17, 2018
