Wimbledon: One Jabeur rallies past Elena Rybakina to return to semis

In a rematch of last year’s final, No.6 seed Ons Jabeur came from a set down to beat No.3 and defending champion Elena Rybakina in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

Twelve months after losing the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina from a set up, Ons Jabeur got her revenge in the sequel.

From a set down and 4-4 in the second set of Wednesday’s quarterfinal, sixth-seeded Jabeur won eight of the next nine games to beat third-seed and defending champion Rybakina 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, to reach her third career Grand Slam semifinal.

Tournaments

Scores

Rankings

Players

Netflix

News & Video

Stats

The WTA

WTA TV

Share via Facebook

Share via Facebook Messenger

Share via Twitter

Share via WhatsApp

Share via copyURL copied

2023 Wimbledon 1 hr ago

In Wimbledon rematch, Jabeur rallies past Rybakina to return to semis

In a rematch of last year’s final, No.6 seed Ons Jabeur came from a set down to beat No.3 and defending champion Elena Rybakina in the Wimbledon quarterfinals.

By WTA Staff

Ons Jabeur, 2023 Wimbledon QF (Getty)

Photo by Sebastien Bozon/AFP via Getty Images

Twelve months after losing the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina from a set up, Ons Jabeur got her revenge in the sequel.

From a set down and 4-4 in the second set of Wednesday’s quarterfinal, sixth-seeded Jabeur won eight of the next nine games to beat third-seed and defending champion Rybakina 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, to reach her third career Grand Slam semifinal.

Stat of the day: Wednesday’s match between Jabeur and Rybakina was the first rematch between the prior year’s finalists at the next Wimbledon since Serena and Venus Williams played in back-to-back finals from 2008-09.

How the match was won: Jabeur had a set point in the opening set, as she served for it at 6-5 after coming from 3-1 behind, before Rybakina broke her, and won three points in a row from 3-3 in the ensuing tiebreak to steal the set.

The match looked as though it would tilt firmly in the defending champion’s favor early in the second set, as she held from 0-40 in the second game and had three break points against Jabeur’s serve at 2-2. But the Tunisian held firm, and when she earned a fourth break point in the set in the 10th game — after hitting three forehand winners to get to 15-40 — she was not denied.

That momentum continued into the decider, where Jabeur won the first three games — with her two service holds going to deuce. After Rybakina held from 0-30 down to get on the board, Jabeur stifled the only chance her opponent had from then on with a crucial hold from 15-40 that extended her lead to 4-1.

For a spot in the final for the second year in a row, Jabeur will next face No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who dismissed Madison Keys in straight sets.

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head, 3-1, including a straight-sets win in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2021.