WIMBLEDON: Ons Jabeur came back from a set and a break down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday and reach the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year.
This will be the third title match for Jabeur in the past five Grand Slam tournaments. The 25-year-old from Tunisia already was the only Arab woman and only North African woman to get to a major final.
So far, she is 0-2 at that stage after losing to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club last July and to Iga Swiatek at the US Open last September.
The sixth-seeded Jabeur’s victory Thursday, which came by collecting 10 of the last 13 games, prevented the second-seeded Sabalenka from replacing Swiatek at No. 1 in the rankings. Sabalenka came into the match with a 17-1 record at majors in 2023, including a trophy at the Australian Open.
Jabeur’s opponent for the championship on Saturday will be Marketa Vondrousova.
Vondrousova became the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King in 1963 by eliminating Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3 earlier Thursday.
Vondrousova reeled off seven consecutive games in one stretch and then held off a brief comeback bid for the victory. She is ranked 43rd and reached the second Grand Slam final of her career after getting that far as a teenager at the 2019 French Open.
“I was crazy nervous,” said Vondrousova, who bowed her head and knelt at the baseline when the match was over. “I was nervous, actually, the whole match.”