{"id":316026,"date":"2023-07-14T00:55:02","date_gmt":"2023-07-14T00:55:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=316026"},"modified":"2023-07-14T02:59:02","modified_gmt":"2023-07-14T02:59:02","slug":"wimbledon-choke-job-opens-door-for-jabeur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=316026","title":{"rendered":"Wimbledon 'choke' job opens door for Jabeur"},"content":{"rendered":"

There was a time \u2014 a year ago; six months ago, even \u2014 that Ons Jabeur<\/a> might not have recovered from the deficit she found herself in during the Wimbledon<\/a> semi-finals. Down a set. Down a break in the second set. So close to being just a game from defeat.<\/p>\n

She credits a sports psychologist with helping her understand how to deal with those on-court situations, with managing to keep her focus, keep her strokes on-target.<\/p>\n

Thanks in part to that, and a steadiness down the stretch at Centre Court on Thursday, Jabeur is on her way to a second consecutive final at the All England Club and her third title match in the past five Grand Slam tournaments.<\/p>\n

Watch Wimbledon 2023 live and free on<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>9now<\/strong><\/em><\/a>. Alternatively, you can stream every match live, ad-free and on demand on<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>Stan Sport<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, with centre court in 4K UHD<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Now she wants to win a trophy. The sixth-seeded Jabeur earned the right to play for one again by beating big-hitting Aryna Sabalenka<\/a> 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very proud of myself, because maybe old me would have lost the match today and went back home already. But I\u2019m glad that I kept digging very deep and finding the strength," said Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia who already was the only Arab woman and only North African woman to reach a major final.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m learning to transform the bad energy into a good one,\u201d Jabeur said, explaining that she was able to get over the anger she felt after the first set. <\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Women cricketers to receive same pay as men<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Origin capitulation should 'haunt' Blues: Joey<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> NSW young gun announces himself with hat-trick heroics<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1679648679060455424?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cSome things I have no control over: She can ace any time. She can hit the big serve, even if I have a break point. That\u2019s frustrating a bit.<\/p>\n

"But I\u2019m glad that I\u2019m accepting it and I\u2019m digging deep to just go and win this match \u2014 and, hopefully, this tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do that, Jabeur will need to get past Marketa Vondrousova, a left-hander from the Czech Republic, on Saturday. Vondrousova became the first unseeded women\u2019s finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King in 1963 by eliminating Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/DanisiFernando\/status\/1679545206398668801?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

Like Jabeur, Vondrousova has been to a major final before. Like Jabeur, she's never won one, having been the runner-up at the 2019 French Open as a teen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re both hungry,\u201d Jabeur said.<\/p>\n

So far, Jabeur is 0-2 in Slam finals. She lost to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club last July and to Iga Swiatek at the U.S. Open last September.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/StanSportAU\/status\/1679532175727681544?s=20<\/a><\/p>\n

Jabeur's win over No. 2 Sabalenka, the Australian Open champion in January, followed victories against three other major title winners: No.3 Rybakina, No.9 Petra Kvitova and Bianca Andreescu.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to make my path worth it,\u201d Jabeur said.<\/p>\n

Thursday's triumph, which came by collecting 10 of the last 13 games, prevented Sabalenka from replacing Swiatek at No. 1 in the rankings.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI had so many opportunities,\u201d said Sabalenka, a 25-year-old from Belarus who was not allowed to compete at Wimbledon last year because all players from her country and from Russia were banned over the war in Ukraine. \u201cOverall, I didn\u2019t play my best tennis today. It was just, like, a combo of everything. A little bit of nerves, a little bit of luck for her at some points.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jabeur trailed 4-2 in the second set when she began to turn things around. But not before Sabalenka came within a point from leading 5-3 after Jabeur put a forehand into the net and fell onto her back on the grass of Centre Court.<\/p>\n

She dusted herself off and broke to take that game and begin the comeback. When she delivered a backhand return winner to force the match to a third set, Jabeur held her right index finger to her ear, then raised it and wagged it as she strutted to the changeover.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Sabalenka\u2019s shots missed the mark repeatedly. She finished with far more unforced errors than Jabeur: The margins were 14-5 in the last set and 45-15 for the match.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was little bit emotionally down, then she was up,\u201d said Sabalenka, who hit 10 aces but also double-faulted five times.<\/p>\n

A break put Jabeur up 4-2 in the third, but there was still some work to be done. Sabalenka, as powerful a ball-striker as there is on tour, erased four match points before Jabeur converted her fifth with an ace.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> <\/em>clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There was a time \u2014 a year ago; six months ago, even \u2014 that Ons Jabeur might not have recovered from the deficit she found […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":316028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316026"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=316026"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316026\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":316032,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316026\/revisions\/316032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/316028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=316026"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=316026"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=316026"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}