Ons Jabeur marches into quarter-finals of French Open with straight-sets win against Bernarda Pera

Ons Jabeur was not at her best but eased past Bernarda Pera 6-3 6-1 to progress to the quarter-finals stage of the French Open.

The first set saw just one hold of serve – by Jabeur in the second game – as both players struggled to assert any dominance.

The second set was a far more straightforward affair for the seventh seed, who raced to take it 6-1 as she recovered from a break in the opening game to win the next six on the bounce.

She will face the winner of Sara Sorribes Tormo and Beatriz Haddad Maia next.

The win means Jabeur has now reached the quarter-finals of all four Grand Slams.

Jabeur raced into a 3-0 lead, winning on her serve and breaking Pera twice. However, it was anything but straightforward for the Tunisian after being broken three times herself.

The highlight from the first set was arguably a topsy-turvy fourth game when the World No.7 staved off three break points before the American eventually managed to draw first blood.

It was Pera’s consistency which let her down though, after failing to win the next game on her serve, as the Tunisian broke back with relative ease.

The service game quality of both players left a lot to be desired, as a fourth break in a row fell in Pera’s favour in an impressive display of aggression from the American.

A superb smashed shot reduced the arrears to 4-2, but it was Jabeur that followed up to extend her lead at the end of a pulsating rally.

After Pera broke back again, Jabeur won the first set after 36 minutes when Pera sent a forehand wide to wrap things up at 6-3.

Breaks of serves continued to be a theme of this match, as Pera won on her third break point after Jabeur could only hit a ball into the net, after the Tunisian powered her way past the first two with a couple of fine serves.

Predictably, the American was broken again after Jabeur played a winner down the line to get three break points in the bank.

She prevailed on the second with a superb backhand shot down the line, before finally gaining a service hold to capitalise on an unforced error from Pera.

Normal service was resumed though when Jabeur’s excellent cross-court winner broke Pera yet again to move 3-1 in front, and then moved 4-1 ahead on her serve.

Victory was in touching distance after Pera failed to hold another service game, before winning the seventh with relative ease to 15 and clinch a quarter-final berth.

Speaking after the match, she told Eurosport: “I was trying to put pressure on her serve, and she was returning well, so I was trying to get into the game from the beginning. The break helped, and made the match much better. I wouldn’t say easy, because it was very tough from the beginning.

“I’m so happy. It took me three times to make it to the quarter-finals here, so I’m very happy to record my best result at the French Open, and hopefully I can continue playing but let’s see what happens.”

—