“I have to thank the rain: it allowed me to chat with my coach,” admitted the 28-year-old Tunisian who will face the Czech Petra Kvitova (9th), double winner (2011, 2014), for a place in quarters. A sudden downpour indeed interrupted the matches and in particular that between Andreescu and Jabeur on court N.1, while the Canadian was leading 6-3, 3-6, 3-2. The match resumed once the roof was closed.
“I didn’t have my best match, but I was playing against a Grand Slam champion and she didn’t make it easy for me,” Jabeur pointed out in reference to Andreescu’s 2019 US Open title. Her drop shots and slices bothered me a lot… now I know the effect it has!” added the Tunisian, well known for the variety of her game and the effectiveness of her own drop shots and slices.
The first Arab player to reach the quarter-finals of a Major (Australia 2020), Jabeur has since been a finalist at Wimbledon and the US Open last year, but she is still chasing a Grand Slam title. Against Andreescu on Saturday, she made the decisive break by taking advantage of a bad service game from the Canadian. She committed two unforced errors and a double fault to offer her white service game and allow Jabeur to break away 5-4 in the deciding set, with her serve to follow to conclude. What she did with an ace on her first match point.
