AFCON 2025
By Chima Azu
Tunisian female tennis player Ons Jabeur defeated last year’s Wimbledon winner Elena Rybakina in three sets (6-7, 6-4,6-1) to progress to the Semifinals of the All England Club competition.
Jabeur got back her revenge after losing last year’s final to the same opponent who denied her first Grand Slam title. The Tunisian is really playing some fine tennis on grass the season. Among the WTA players the Tunisian has the most wins on grass over the past three years. She increased that tally to 27 with a hard fought victory and has won 8 of the last 10 on the surface.
The first set was keenly contested with both players holding their serve but Ons should have wrapped up the set when she had set point. The match went on to a tie-break which Elena won and it looked like it would be a repeat of last year’s final. Jabeur rallied back in the second set by holding her serves and breaking Rybakina in the fifth game, she held her serve to win the second set 6-4. The final set was more one sided as she broke Rybakina twice to win the set comfortably.
The semifinal is poised to be a tough one as Ons Jabeur takes on Sabalenka who has been very consistent in virtually all Grand Slams by always advancing to the tail end of the competitions. Sabalenka has also won three out of the four meetings with Jabeur, unfortunately for the Tunisian she won the last three. Jabeur will need to raise her game for her to stand any chance of reaching a back-to-back Wimbledon final.
