The Tunisian beats Sabalenka and the Czech defeats Svitolina in the semifinals
MADRID, 13 Jul. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur, sixth seed in the Wimbledon tournament, won this Thursday by (5) 6-7, 6-4 and 6-3 the Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka and qualified for the final of the women’s singles draw, where the Czech Marketa Vondrousova will face, who in the other semifinal defeated the Ukrainian Elina Svitolina by a double 6-3.
Svitolina, being the executioner of the American Venus Williams, the Belarusian Victoria Azarenka and also the Polish star Iga Swiatek, ended the epic before the surprising Vondrousova, vivacious on the London grass during this third ‘Grand Slam’ it’s from the season.
The Czech won with some ease, showing herself to be superior from the start of the match on Center Court at the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club. Dominant with his serve, Vondrousova broke in the fifth game to make it 3-2, a ‘break’ that he would lose in the next rally, in a festival of breaks.
In that chaos reigned the Czech, who was able to confirm the third ‘break’ to make it 6-3 with which she culminated a first set that showered her offensive deployment with confidence. Thus, she went up to 4-0 in the second set displaying power, but that’s when Svitolina grew, she broke her opponent’s serve and came close with a 4-3 that brought her back to life.
That tight scoreline predicted a tight finish that did not come because, after that brief disconnection, Vondrousova became serious to close the second and final set, thanks to an hour and a quarter of the game. Protected by lethal blows for Svitolina, the 24-year-old Czech confirmed her first final at Wimbledon, already becoming the first unseeded woman to fight for that title in the Open era.
JABEUR WILL HAVE REVENGE A YEAR LATER
For her part, Jabeur earned a chance for revenge after defeating Sabalenka in two hours and 19 minutes. The Tunisian, who lost last year’s Wimbledon final against Kazakh Elena Rybakina (3-6, 6-2 and 6-2), will now start as favorite in her duel against Vondrousova.
Until reaching that point, Jabeur solved a cheating date. Sabalenka started her most intoned ‘semi’, won the opening game in white with her serve and was placed just after 30-40 to the rest. Her opponent quickly recovered, avoided the break and even came close to breaking in the fifth game, with a 15-40 that fizzled out.
Both focused from there, winning each game with service in favor and forcing the sudden death, full of quality and that opted for 5-7 for the Belarusian side. Although Jabeur took the blow well, going up 2-1 in the next set, he faltered when he dropped serve in the fifth game (2-3).
Emboldened, Sabalenka immediately consolidated that advantage (2-4) and prowled for victory. However, the North African made saves to turn the score around and endorse her opponent four games in a row (6-4). In the third and final set, the turning point came in the sixth game, with Jabeur inspiring the rest.
In this way, the sixth seed consolidated the 5-2 serve and enjoyed two chances to seal the victory right after. She did not complete the rest (5-3), but she did the next time with her serve, displaying versatility with each lash of her racket and meeting Vondrousova in the match for the title.