Ons Jabeur showed that it is sometimes better to float like a butterfly than sting like a bee as her wily artistry overcame the brutal hitting of Aryna Sabalenka to reach her second Wimbledon final with a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 victory on Thursday.
Jabeur, who was beaten in last year’s final, looked destined to suffer more heartbreak on Centre Court when she lost the opening set, but her delicate strokeplay and clever angles eventually subdued the relentless power of Belarusian Sabalenka.
The victory set up a final between the Tunisian sixth seed and unseeded Czech Marketa Vondrousova, the 42nd-ranked former French Open finalist who ended the hopes of Ukrainian Elina Svitolina earlier on Thursday.
Jabeur, who also finished runner-up at last year’s U.S. Open, passed up four match points, but finally got over the line with an ace, calmly raising her arms to the sky in celebration before reflecting on some new-found mental toughness.
“I’m very proud of myself because maybe the old me would have lost the match today and went back home already, but I’m glad that I kept digging very deep and finding the strength,” she said.
Jabeur, who is bidding to become the first African woman as well as first Arab to win a major, has shown real steel to come through this year, becoming the first woman to defeat three top-10 opponents at Wimbledon since Serena Williams, perhaps one of the game’s toughest competitors, in 2012.
Sabalenka, who missed last year’s tournament due to Wimbledon’s ban on Russian and Belarusian players, was as tough an opponent as she could have faced.
The second seed possessed an envious recent Grand Slam record having won the Australian Open in January and reached the last four at Roland Garros while the world number one spot was hers had she beaten Jabeur.
