Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reacts as she plays against Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the tenth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships Tunisia's Ons Jabeur reacts as she plays against Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina during their women's singles quarter-finals tennis match on the tenth day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships. Photo“Sebastien Bozon/AFP
London — Ons Jabeur gained revenge for her defeat in last year's Wimbledon final on Wednesday, coming from behind to beat Elena Rybakina and reach the last four.
In a repeat of the 2022 title match, the Tunisian sixth seed beat her third-ranked opponent 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-1 on Centre Court.
The 28-year-old will face Belarusian second seed Aryna Sabalenka for a place in Saturday's final at the All England Club.
"I'm very happy with the performance — a lot of emotion out there, especially playing someone that serves really well," she said.
"It's frustrating to return but I'm glad I did everything, shouted, got angry, then got calm and focused and hopefully I can manage my emotions like this for the next two matches."
Rybakina was first to pounce, breaking to love in the fourth game when Jabeur went wide with a backhand but the Tunisian hit back immediately.
Jabeur took advantage of a loose volley at the net from Rybakina to break again and edge into a 6-5 lead.
But this time she was the player who failed to consolidate, squandering a set point as Rybakina forced a tie-break, which she won.
The Kazakh survived break points in the second game of the second set while Jabeur was forced to dig deep on her serve to move into a 3-2 lead.
Both players held serve until the 10th game, when Rybakina cracked and Jabeur levelled the match.
The force was with Jabeur in the decider as she opened up a 3-0 lead and saved two break points to move 4-1 ahead.
Jabeur powered a backhand down the line to break once again and held her serve to seal the win, letting out a roar of delight.
AFP