US Open: Jabeur survives huge scare to battle past Bouzkova and reach the last 16

Ons Jabeur fought back from the brink to turn an enthralling contest around and beat Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to move into the last 16 of the US Open.

Last year’s runner-up looked to be in danger of an early exit this time around as she found herself a set down, having narrowly lost a close opener.

But Jabeur once again showcased her greatest strength – resilience. Digging deep into her reserves, the Tunisian was able to break early in the second. Serving for the second set, however, a lengthy medical time-out from her opponent looked to have thrown Jabeur’s rhythm as she was broken to send the second into a nervy decider.

The world No 5 edged a close breaker before finally wearing down the stern resistance of a physically ailing Bouzkova to take the set 6-3 and move into the second week of the US Open.

“I got to say I really focused on her than on myself.” – Jabeur

“I think we both had a great battle tonight, and hopefully I’ll continue getting this warrior symbol with me during this great tournament,” the Tunisian said after her win.

Jabeur, who herself came into the tournament suffering from seemed like a flu, added that it was difficult to play Bouzkova while the Czech appeared to be ailing. “It’s never easy playing someone injured, knowing that this person is injured. I was trying to observe her a lot, try to see where she was hurt. I thought maybe making her run on the forehand, that’s the spot where really bothered her a lot. I felt like doing dropshot on her forehand. I did on both obviously, but I felt like the forehand side was the side that bothered her a lot. I was tense at times. I couldn’t do my shots and everything,” the former world No 2 said. “I got to say I really focused on her than on myself. I feel like I even forgot that I wasn’t feeling that well. Yeah, just I’m glad that I got through this. I think it’s never easy playing someone injured. It really gets into your head.

Jabeur, ranked No 5, will play Chinese Qinwen Zheng, the No 23 seed, next and said she hopes to improve her serve before that encounter. “My serve I think is going to be the key, especially playing someone that serves very well. So I think I’m going to work a lot on the serve and the plus-one and the return and the plus-one. I think that’s going to be very, very important playing a talented young player. We’ll try to have fun on the court. That’s really important for me.”

The Tunisian won against Colombian Camila Osorio (7-5, 7-6 (4)) and Linda Noskova (7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3) ahead of her victory.

In the previous rounds of the Flushing Meadow tournament, Bouzkova, ranked No 31, won against American wildcard Ashlyn Krueger (7-5, 6-4) and Croat Petra Martic (6-1, 6-2).

New York (Grand Slam), other third-round results (USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center, hard, USD 44.700.000, most recent results first):

• Ekaterina Alexandrova vs. Marketa Vondrousova
• Peyton Stearns beat Katie Boulter: 6-4, 6-3
• Jessica Pegula (3) beat Elina Svitolina (26): 6-4, 4-6, 6-2
• Qinwen Zheng beat Lucia Bronzetti: 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
• Madison Keys (17) beat Liudmila Samsonova (14): 5-7, 6-2, 6-2
• Aryna Sabalenka (2) beat Clara Burel: 6-1, 6-1
• Daria Kasatkina (13) beat Greet Minnen (Q): 6-3, 6-4
• Sorana Cirstea (30) beat Elena Rybakina (4): 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-4
• Belinda Bencic (15) beat Lin Zhu: 7-6 (1), 2-6, 6-3
• Coco Gauff (6) beat Elise Mertens (32): 3-6, 6-3, 6-0
• Caroline Wozniacki (WC) beat Jennifer Brady: 4-6, 6-3, 6-1
• Jelena Ostapenko (20) beat Bernarda Pera: 4-6, 6-3, 6-3
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Kaja Juvan (Q): 6-0, 6-1
• Xinyu Wang beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova: 4-6, 6-3, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova (10) beat Taylor Townsend: 7-6, 6-3