Jabeur comes back against Rogers to reach her first US Open last 16

Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the No 5 seed, beat American Shelby Rogers, the No 31 seed, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 to move into the last 16 of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York City on Friday.

“I think we both played really good,” Jabeur said after the victory. “It was a tough first set. I had a lot of chances there (she led 3-2, with a break), but I’m pretty glad that I kept believing in myself and I got the win in three sets.”

The US Open was the only Grand Slam tournament where Jabeur was yet to reach at least the fourth
round. “It just means a lot to be there,” she smiled. “I know that I don’t play the best on hard court, but it’s always amazing to see how I’m improving, how I’m pushing my limits. I just don’t want to stop here, even though the preparation for the hard court season wasn’t great. I’m just gonna keep fighting and keep pushing and breaking (my) records here.”

Ons Jabeur is the second highest seed still in the women’s draw of the US Open after the early losses of Anett Kontaveit (No 2), Maria Sakkari (No 3) and Paula Badosa (No 4).

Jabeur, the second highest seed in the field

The Tunisian, ranked No 5 and Wimbledon runner-up, will face Russian Veronika Kudermetova, the No 18 seed, who dismantled Hungarian Dalma Galfi (6-2, 6-0).

“The thing is the pressure on her, she always won against me,” noted Jabeur. “And now I feel like I really need to listen to what my coach have to say to really figure out how I’m gonna win this one.” Kudermetova beat Jabeur three times, once on hard court, one month ago in San José (7-6, 6-2).

Ahead of her victory, the Tunisian won against American Madison Brengle (7-5, 6-2) and American wildcard Elizabeth Mandlik (7-5, 6-2).

Rogers, ranked No 31, edged out Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus (3-6, 6-3, 6-4) and won against Slovak qualifier Viktoria Kuzmova (7-5, 6-1) earlier in the tournament. The American had won her last two meetings against a top-5 opponent (US Open 2021 v Ashleigh Barty and San Jose 2022 v Maria Sakkari), but she still hasn’t beaten Jabeur in three matches.

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