Qualifying For The 2023 Wimbledon Final, Ons Jabeur Overcomes Sabalenka's Resistance

JAKARTA - Tunisian Ons Jabeur defeated Aryna Sabalenka's resistance in the semifinals of Wimbledon which took place at the Center Court, All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, London, Thursday, July 14.

At the beginning of the match, Jabeur was left behind by a set, to then ensure victory with a score of 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 6-3 over Sabalenka. In the final match, he will face Marketa Vondrousova who eliminated Elina Svitolina.

This is the second time on a row Ons Jabeur has advanced until the Wimbledon final. Victory over Sabalenka is also the third time Jabeur has risen to win after losing in the first set.

Saturday's final will be his third final at the Grand Slam event, after he lost to Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon 2022 and then to Iga Swiatek at the US Open too last year.

"I am very proud of myself because if I lose today's game, I will go home. But I am happy that I am still working hard and finding strength," Jabeur said after the match as quoted by AFP.

"I learned to transform bad energy towards good things, so the anger I got from the first set, I tried to stay focused," he added.

Jabeur did not forget to praise Sabalenka's toughness, which on the other hand, if the opponent advances to the final and becomes a champion, will cause a little moral problems for the Wimbledon organizing committee.

If Sabalenka were the winner in the final match played on Sunday 16 July, he would receive a trophy from Princess Catherine, Prince William's wife. This is likely to happen a year after Belarus and Russia were banned from participating in the tournament due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Belarus itself is a key ally for Russia.

Sabalenka initially seemed to be walking smoothly to the final, after performing well in the first set. He was able to rise from three break points in the first set.

The 25-year-old then bounced back from 2-4 at the tiebreak, to secure the opening set in less than an hour.

Sabalenka then broke the Jabeur serve to lead 3-2 in the second set, when the opponent did his third double fault.

The advantage grew to 4-2 before Jabeur's Ons rose and won the next four games to equalize to 1-1.

Sabalenka's spirit seemed relaxed and his wave was broken in the sixth game set of determinations, before Ons Jabeur confirmed victory through the fifth match point thanks to his service force. Sabalenka fired 39 wins but made 45 unified errors, when his hopes to add Wimbledon's title to his collection of titles ran aground.