Wimbledon 2023: Ons Jabeur stuns Aryna Sabalenka with stirring comeback to return to final

Ons Jabeur completed an extraordinary comeback from a set and a break down to beat Aryna Sabalenka in a Wimbledon classic and reach her second consecutive SW19 final.

The Tunisian, runner-up to Elena Rybakina a year ago, looked to be heading for more heartache at the All England Club after being edged in a first set tie-break and having her serve broken early in the second.

But she wrestled the momentum back in her favour to take the second and the Centre Court crowd rose to their feet in admiration when she edged the decider for a 6-7(5) 6-4 6-3 win over the world No. 2 in two hours and 19 minutes.

“Thank you to the crowd that kept me in the match,” Jabeur said.

“It was very difficult with her shots and her serves. Thank you very much for believing in me.

“I’m working a lot with my mental coach about this. I might be writing a book about it! I’m very proud of myself because maybe the old me would have lost this match today and I would’ve been back home already. I’m finding the strength.”

Jabeur is now one step away from claiming her first major title in her third final, following defeats at Wimbledon and the US Open last year.

She has beaten four former Grand Slam champions on her run at SW19: Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Rybakina and Sabalenka.

Both players remained solid on serve at the start in what proved to be a theme of the opening set, although they passed tests of their resilience by saving early break points.

Jabeur earned two break points at 2-2, but Sabalenka’s massive serve helped her save the first before she beautifully executed a drop shot to see off the second on her way to a hold.

The holds became more comfortable as the set went on, but neither player blinked and a tie-break beckoned.

The first mini-break went Jabeur’s way when Sabalenka double-faulted to go 3-2 down and things looked even better for the Tunisian when she produced the shot of the match, a stretching forehand winner down the line on the run, to go 4-2 in front at the change of ends.

But Sabalenka found another gear from then on as Jabeur went long to put the tie-break back on serve before netting a backhand to give Sabalenka two set points.

The first was saved, but the world No. 2 made no mistake on the second as she landed a massive serve that Jabeur could only return long to end a 58-minute opener.

The Tunisian may well have feared that her dream was over when she found herself double-faulting when facing the first of three break points for Sabalenka in game five of the second set.

But Ons stormed back into contention by breaking back in game eight to put the set back on serve at 4-4, Sabalenka netting a forehand on break point to leave the sixth seed clenching her first in determined celebration.

Jabeur roared when she saw off a break point to hold the following game, and things got even better when she forced a break chance of her own with Sabalenka serving to save in the set and took it with a backhand return winner down the line.

The decider started with a familiar pattern of comfortable holds, but Jabeur applied serious pressure in game six as she forced deuce.

Sabalenka fended off two break points, but it was third time lucky for Jabeur as an exchange of slices ended with the Belarusian pushing a shot long.

The world No. 2 couldn’t make progress on the Jabeur serve and was left needing to save two match points as she served to stay in the match.

Jabeur raced into a 40-0 lead on serve to earn three match points but showed signs of nerves as she couldn’t make the first two count, taking Sabalenka’s tally of match points saved to four.

But the 2022 runner-up finished the job in style by landing an ace to seal a heroic semi-final comeback that will leave her full of confidence that her wait for an elusive Slam could soon be over.

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