Landmark victory for Jabeur

During her run to the Wimbledon quarter-finals last year, Tunisian Ons Jabeur was contacted by Moroccan former player Hicham Arazi on social media.

The ex-world No.22, who was nicknamed the ‘Moroccan McEnroe’, congratulated Jabeur on her exploits in south-west London and urged her to finally break the Arab players’ hoodoo in Grand Slam quarter-finals.

Arazi, his compatriot Younes El Aynaoui, and Egyptian Ismail El Shafei, were the only three Arab or North African-born tennis players to have made it to the last eight before Jabeur came along.

El Shafei lost his quarter-final at Wimbledon in 1974, Arazi fell at that stage four times in the Australian Open and at Roland-Garros, and El Aynaoui was also defeated in four quarter-finals at the Australian and US Opens.

Jabeur, too, stumbled in her first two attempts of reaching a Slam semi, losing in the last eight at the Australian Open in 2020 and Wimbledon 2021.

On Tuesday though, the Tunisian world No.2 ended the sequence and fulfilled Arazi’s – and her entire region’s – wish by becoming the first Arab or North African-born player to reach the semi-finals of a Grand Slam, thanks to an entertaining 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory over Marie Bouzkova on Centre Court.

“I’m really, really happy, especially that it happened on this court because I have so much love for this court and hopefully the journey for me will continue,” said the 27-year-old trailblazer.

“I knew Marie was going to come and really make me work to win a point. She’s a talented player and I’m really happy that I woke up in the second set and I played much better in the third set.”

The No.3 seed, who extended her winning streak to 10 matches, will next face her good friend Tatjana Maria, of Germany, for a place in the final.

Jabeur often spends time with Maria’s two daughters, Charlotte and Cecilia, at tournaments and the two families get together for barbeques in Florida.

“I love Tatjana so much and her family is really amazing; she’s my barbeque buddy,” said Jabeur.

“It’s going to be tough to play her obviously, but she’s a great friend and I’m really happy for her that she’s in the semi-final.

“I know she’s one of the examples I wish players would look up to her because she really suffered to play and to win rounds in Grand Slams and look at her now: she’s in the semi-final after having two babies. It’s really an amazing story.”

Jabeur has become a fans' favourite, with her signature drop shots, soft touch, bold choices on court, and even her football skills, constantly making the daily highlight reels.

“She is very frustrating to play, I have firsthand experience,” laughed British former world No.4 Johanna Konta, who was commentating on the match.

Both Jabeur and Bouzkova have incredibly high tennis IQ and it was a chess match from the off.

Impressive court coverage helped Bouzkova draw first blood, breaking Jabeur for a 3-2 lead.

Bouzkova, ranked No.66, swatted away two break points to hold for 5-3, finding an answer for every Jabeur trick, and the Czech sealed the set in 41 minutes on a netted volley from her opponent.

It was the first set dropped by Jabeur this Fortnight and the Tunisian responded in strong fashion, opening the second with a break of serve to carve a 2-0 gap.

A Bouzkova double fault in game five extended Jabeur’s advantage and the 27-year-old soon levelled the match to force a decider.

The turning point came in the second game of the final set when Bouzkova won a high-speed volley duel at the net, despite falling to the ground halfway through it.

From 40-15 down though, Jabeur took the next seven points to move ahead 3-0.

With another break in the bag, Jabeur slammed down an ace to get triple match point and sealed the deal with another great serve, making history for her entire region.