Sabalenka power sweeps Jabeur away

In a titanic battle between power and finesse, No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka overwhelmed Ons Jabeur with a constant barrage of huge hitting on Centre Court on Tuesday to move into the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.

Sabalenka saved six of seven break points and fired 26 winners during her 6-4, 6-3 success over No.21 seed Jabeur to set up a last-four showdown with Czech No.8 seed and former world No.1 Karolina Pliskova.

“I’m really happy with this win, it’s always tough matches against Ons and she’s such a great player and an amazing person, so it’s tough to play against her, and I’m really happy that I could beat her today,” said an elated Sabalenka on court after her victory.

“Guys you make this place special, thank you so much for the support. The atmosphere was unbelievable today.”

The last time the pair squared off at a Grand Slam, Jabeur knocked out Sabalenka in the 2020 Roland-Garros third round in three sets. The defeat ignited something in the Belarusian, who went on a 15-match winning streak from that point forward, picking up three consecutive titles in the process.

“After that match, I don't know, something clicked in my head and I was playing really good tennis, aggressive, I like dominated. That match means a lot for me,” Sabalenka said reflecting on that loss on Parisian clay.

Jabeur had to navigate a brutal draw this Fortnight, needing to overcome three major champions – Venus Williams, Garbiñe Muguruza and Iga Swiatek, before becoming the first Arab player to reach the Wimbledon quarter-finals since 1974.

Sabalenka ended her long search for a maiden Grand Slam quarter-final at these Championships, finally putting to bed the narrative that she was the best player on tour never to have reached the last-eight stage at a major.

Entering the quarter-finals, Sabalenka and Jabeur shared the top spot of the WTA’s match-wins leaderboard with 33 victories each.

Barring a break point on the Sabalenka serve in the opening game, both players were taking care of business rather efficiently in their own service games through the first nine games.

Serving to stay in the set at 4-5, Jabeur faced her first break points of the contest. In a marathon 10^th game that lasted more than eight minutes, Sabalenka finally broke, and secured the set on her fifth opportunity.

Jabeur’s last two rounds saw her rally back from a set down en route to victory and when the Tunisian went up 0-40 on the Sabalenka serve at the start of the second set, it looked like the comeback was already in motion. But the steely No.2 seed saved all three break points to hold for 1-0. The missed opportunities seemed to weigh down on Jabeur, who dropped serve in the next game but struck back immediately to level for 2-2.

Sabalenka kept attacking Jabeur’s second serve and got a crucial break to inch ahead 5-3.

“Aryna Sabalenka is coming of age,” said commentator Barry Cowan, as the 23-year-old prepared to serve for the victory.

She had to save a break point first, but Sabalenka closed out the match with a down-the-line backhand winner that wrapped up the 74-minute success.

“I’m happy that from the side it looks like everything is working for me, but sometimes it’s really tricky shots on the grass, it’s sometimes tough to do anything with the ball. But I’m really happy I’m still in the tournament and somehow I found a way to win matches here.

“This surface is amazing and it fits my game and I’m really enjoying every second on the court,” said Sabalenka, who had won just one match at Wimbledon in three previous appearances.