Ons Jabeur reached the semi-finals of the Mutua Madrid Open on Wednesday with a win over the twice former winner, Simona Halep. The eighth seed from Tunisia needed just an hour and seven minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-2 win over the former world no. 1.
Jabeur won almost 78% of her first-serve points to Halep’s 57% and 51% of her second-serve points to the latter’s 37%. She also converted four of the five break-point chances that came her way on Halep’s serve while dropping serve only once (off four break points faced).
After the match, Jabeur shared, “To be honest with you, I was really stressed the whole match, knowing Simona, knowing that she can come back at every time… I felt like she played really well, and I’m impressed with the fact I didn’t focus on that point, because if I really was frustrated, I could have lost the game. But happy that I kept it cool and won that game because it was, I think, the game of the set.”
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This is Jabeur’s second semi-final this year. Earlier, she reached the final of the Charleston Open (lost to Belinda Bencic).
In the semi-final, Jabeur will play Ekaterina Alexandrova. Alexandrova, who qualified for the main draw, ousted Amanda Anisimova in their quarter-final clash, 6-4, 6-3 in an hour and 30 minutes.
Jabeur and Alexandrova will be playing for the eighth time with the latter dominating their head-to-head, 6-1.
Meanwhile, Jil Teichmann advanced to the semi-finals in the Spanish capital with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Anhelina Kalinina. Teichmann needed 90 minutes to wrap up the proceedings. Looking to reach the Mutua Madrid Open finals, the Swiss will play 12th seed Jessica Pegula. Pegula beat the last remaining home favourite in the draw, Sara Sorribes Tormo 6-4, 6-2 in an hour and 47 minutes. This will be the first time Teichmann and Pegula will be taking on each other.
Photo Credit: Mutua Madrid Open Twitter