After defeating Ajla Tomljanovic, who eliminated Serena Williams, Ons Jabeur became the first African woman to reach the US Open semifinals in the Open era. The Tunisian will next face Caroline Garcia.
History made ✅ pic.twitter.com/qqO0aTZcoB
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2022
Jabeur already said that she wants to break records in New York.
“You know, I know that I don’t play the best on hard court, but it’s always amazing to see how I’m improving, how I’m pushing my limits. I just don’t want to stop here. You know how much I love New York, how much I want to be here. Just amazing to put the hard work, even though the preparation for the hard court season wasn’t great. But just the main reason to be here and the main goal for me is always to play good here,” said Ons Jabeur after reaching the second week of the US Open.
How did Jabeur get past Tomljanovic
In the first semi-final, the fifth-seeded Tunisian defeated Ajla Tomljanovic 6-4, 7-6(4) in an hour and 41 minutes.
The opening set had three exchanges of breaks, two of which came on the Australian’s serve. Jabeur raced ahead thanks to a break in the third game of the set but handed it back in the sixth game, levelling the set at three-all.
However, Tomljanovic wasn’t able to consolidate the break back and Jabeur broke back to go up once again in the match. Three games later, Jabeur served out the set to 15. The second set saw both players struggle to hold their serve.
Jabeur took the lead twice in the set break Tomljanovic in the first and in the fifth game but on both occasions, she conceded the break back. In the eighth game, a break on Jabeur’s serve gave Tomljanovic the chance to serve for the set and level the proceedings but she was broken to love.
In the tie-break, both players trade a mini-break before Jabeur capitalised on the first match point, on her serve. The 2022 Wimbledon finalist hit 29 winners, more than twice as many as Tomljanovic’s 12 and had 30 unforced errors, six more than the latter’s 24