Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam semi-final; to face Maria for Wimbledon finale spot

Ons Jabeur went one set down to Czech opponent Marie Bouzkova but lost only two games after that as she powered to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win on Centre Court. Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the semi-final of a Grand Slam on Tuesday, setting up a Wimbledon meeting with Maria.

TN Sports Desk

Updated Jul 6, 2022, 03:33 IST

Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the semi-final of a Grand Slam (Twitter/Wimbledon)

Photo : Twitter

World number two Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach the semi-final of a Grand Slam on Tuesday, setting up a Wimbledon meeting with her "buddy" Tatjana Maria.

The Tunisian went one set down to Czech opponent Marie Bouzkova but lost only two games after that as she powered to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win on Centre Court.

Jabeur is the only remaining player seeded in the top 15 left in the tournament at the All England Club.

The 27-year-old said she was happy that she "woke up" after a disappointing first set.

"I am really, really happy especially that it happened on this court because I have so much love for this court," she said. "Hopefully the journey for me will continue."

The Tunisian, who had not lost a set in her run to the quarter-finals, was broken twice by the 66th-ranked Bouzkova in the first set.

But it was a different story for the rest of the match as she broke her opponent's serve six times, hitting 30 winners -- more than twice her opponent's tally.

Mother superior

Germany's Maria, ranked 103, came back from maternity leave less a year ago after the birth of her second daughter.

In Tuesday's match -- only the third all-German Grand Slam quarter-final in the Open era -- an early break for Niemeier proved decisive in the first set.

The 22-year-old then broke again at the start of the second set to take an iron grip on the match but Maria stormed back, breaking three times to level the match.

World number 97 Niemeier again drew first blood in the deciding set, breaking in the fifth game and holding serve to lead 4-2.

But Maria hit back to level at 4-4 and broke again in the 12th game to seal the victory in two hours and 18 minutes.

The German veteran, who saved two match points in the previous round against 12th seed Jelena Ostapenko, made her Grand Slam debut in 2007 and had never progressed beyond the third round at a major before this year's Wimbledon.

But she said she always had faith in her ability to do something special despite her uninspiring record in the Slams.

On Wednesday, Kazakhstan's Elena Rybakina will face Australia's Ajla Tomljanovic for a place in the semi-finals while Romanian former winner Simona Halep takes on American Amanda Anisimova.

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