Dylan Bettencourt
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur booked her spot in the Wimbledon final four after defeating Marie Bouzkova with a spirited fightback after losing the opening set.
Jabeur’s triumph wrote her name in the history books by becoming not only the first Arab player to reach any Grand Slam semi-final in the Open era, she also became the first African woman to do so since 1997.
The number three seed lost at the quarter-final stage at last year’s tournament, but this time she fought back to claim victory.
“I’m really, really happy, especially that it happened here because I have so much love for this court,” Jabeur said.
“Hopefully the journey for me will continue”.
The 27-year-old is now two matches away from becoming the first African woman to win the Wimbledon title.
Her first match is against her best friend on tour, the unseeded German Tatjana Maria, who won her 10th straight grass court match on Tuesday.
Jabeur said she was happy that Tatjana was in the semi-final.
“I love Tatjana so much. I love her family. She’s my barbecue buddy, she’s a great friend,” Jabeur said.
“She really struggled to play and win matches at Grand Slams and look at her now, she’s in the semi-finals after having two babies.”
Jabeur will look to make further history by reaching the final, but first she will have to defeat Tatjana in their semi-final clash set for Thursday.
The entire African continent will be hopeful that they will be watching Jabeur play in the Wimbledon final this Saturday.
Image source: @DailySabah
