Ons Jabeur ended the magical run of good friend Tatjana Maria at Wimbledon to
move one victory away from creating her own fairy-tale story at the All England
Club; she remains on course to be the first woman from an Arab country and the continent of Africa to win a Grand Slam
Last Updated: 07/07/22 4:19pm
Ons Jabeur’s unorthodox game is well suited to the lawns of Wimbledon as she defeated Tatjana Maria to reach her maiden Grand Slam final
Tunisian trailblazer Ons Jabeur ended the run of 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria to reach her maiden Grand Slam final at Wimbledon on Friday.
The third seed became the first African woman and Arab player in the Open Era to advance to a major final by winning her 11th match in a row with a 6-2 3-6 6-1 victory over her good friend from Germany.
Jabeur was magnanimous in victory and ensured her friend Maria shared in the applause at the end after both had embraced at the net.
“I want to say it is a dream come true after years and years of work. I am really happy it pays off and I continue for one more match now,” the Tunisian said on-court.
“I definitely wanted to share the moment with Tatjana at the end because she is such an inspiration for so many players, including me, coming back after two babies. I still can’t believe how she did it.”
Jabeur has continued her excellent 12 months since winning the title in Birmingham last summer and then reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
She is now up to three in the world rankings after a fine clay-court campaign and then another grass-court title in Berlin by making her maiden Grand Slam final.
Jabeur proved too good for Maria in the end but the mum-of-two went down fighting after bringing her remarkable 35th appearance at a major to its conclusion in the semi-final stage.
Maria had never made the second week of a Grand Slam before this summer and only gave birth last April but lost out to first-time finalist Jabeur.
Jabeur vs Maria: Match Stats
| Jabeur | Match Stats | Maria |
|---|---|---|
| 4 | Aces | 0 |
| 2 | Double Faults | 5 |
| 69% | 1st serve win percentage | 57% |
| 68% | 2nd serve win percentage | 53% |
| 4/11 | Break points won | 1/2 |
| 39 | Total winners | 17 |
| 30 | Unforced errors | 27 |
| 95 | Total points won | 78 |
Eight was the number of minutes it took for Maria to hold her first service game in a clear indicator of how tough a task she faced if she wanted to continue her dream run at the All England Club.
Jabeur would eventually break at the fifth time of asking and another followed in the seventh game, which saw the Tunisian produce a drop shot on the spin which Maria returned to draw big applause from a near-enough full 15,000 crowd.
Back-to-back aces helped the highest seed left in the competition take the opener in 38 minutes to move one set away from the final.
Maria was no stranger to being behind in the Championships, with four of her five matches going to a third set and three of them lasting over two hours.
Jabeur (right) edged an entertaining Centre Court encounter to remain on course to be the first woman from an Arab country and the continent of Africa to win a Grand Slam
Those trademark powers of recovery were on full display as the third seed was broken in the fourth game of the second set after a wonderful exchange of drop shots and slices.
A double-fault almost let Jabeur back in immediately but supreme defensive skills from Maria, who was making some exceptional lob shots with her back against the wall, clinched another key hold.
Despite a first set point coming and going, largely thanks to some brilliance at the net from Jabeur, Maria did force a decider after one of her more comfortable service games.
A big weight of expectation had been on Jabeur’s shoulders for a lengthy period of time but she had handled the pressure impeccably so far and did so again.
The 27-year-old found her best tennis at a critical time here.
A double-handed backhand winner with both feet off the grass showed she was ready to fight and when Maria double-faulted midway through the next game, Jabeur scented blood.
A glorious forehand down the line secured a decisive break and a second followed to send the Tunisian into a first Grand Slam final.
Jabeur added: “I’m a proud Tunisian woman standing here today and I know in Tunisia they’re going crazy right now. Hopefully, I just tried to inspire really as much as I can.
“I want to see more and more not just Tunisian, [but] Arab [and] African players on tour. I just love the game and I want to share this experience with them.”
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