‘I was sick of losing to her!’ – Ons Jabeur makes history in reaching maiden WTA 1000 final
Ons Jabeur has become the first Arab woman to reach the final of a WTA 1000 event by claiming the first spot in the Madrid Open final.
The world number 10 was already the last remaining top 10 player after just the third round, and she is still standing after convincingly conquering Ekaterina Alexandrova 6-2, 6-3 in a little over an hour.
Jabeur had previously only beaten Alexandrova once in seven meetings at all levels, a trend she defied today.
She said in her post-match interview: “I was sick of losing against her all the time!
“So I came here to take my revenge.
“I feel like this tournament is a revenge tournament for every match.”
In the previous two rounds, Jabeur defeated Belinda Bencic and then Simona Halep, two players she had previously lost back-to-back matches to.
Bencic in particular inflicted a tough defeat on Jabeur in the final of last month’s WTA 500 Charleston Open in what would have been a first clay title for whichever player won.
Now Jabeur will face either world number 35 Jil Teichmann or 14th ranked Jessica Pegula as she hopes to win just a second tour title after losing her last two tour finals.
She said of her next opponent: “Either Teichmann or Pegula, it’s going to be tough.
“I really hope they play for five hours so they’ll be tired!
“It’s been tough losing a few finals lately.
“But I’m going to do my best and give it all for this one.”
Regardless of the result of the final, today’s victory means Jabeur will move up two ranking spots to world number eight next week after Madrid concludes.
However, should she win the tournament the 27-year-old will rise back to her career-high of world number seven.
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