Western & Southern Open: Sabalenka gains revenge over Jabeur, into semi-finals

Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, defeated Tunisian Ons Jabeur, the No 5 seed, 7-5, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the Western & Southern Open at the Lindner Tennis Family Center in Cincinnati on Friday night.

The clash was a rematch of last month’s Wimbledon semi-final, where Jabeur won in three sets, but Sabalenka ensured that the outcome was very different this time.

The Belarusian was dominant on serve in the latter stages of the match, sending down nine aces and making 62 percent of first serves. In return, she converted 6/10 break points, making sure that three sets weren’t required for victory on this occasion.

The result was helped by an injury to Jabeur midway through the second set. With the Tunisian up a break at 3-1, she took a medical time out to have an issue addressed in her lower right leg. Following the break, Jabeur served two double faults to concede the game, with Sabalenka going on to win the next four games and claim the match.

“I’m a little bit sad for Ons. I really hope she’ll recover fast and she’ll be ready for the US Open,” Sabalenka said after her victory over Jabeur.

Another opportunity for Sabalenka to gain revenge in Western & Southern Open semi-finals

Next up, Sabalenka will play another Grand Slam rematch, with Karolina Muchova waiting in what will be her third Cincinnati semi-final. Earlier this year, the pair met in the Roland-Garros semi-finals, with Muchova saving match points to defeat Sabalenka in three sets.

“About Muchova, we had really battle at the French Open. It was really, really tough match. Really great fight. I’m really looking forward for this match,” said Sabalenka in anticipation of the rematch.

“I really hope that I’ll be able to bring better tennis than I brought today on court.”

Earlier in the tournament, the Belarusian edged out American qualifier Ann Li (7-5, 2-6, 6-4) and won against Russian Daria Kasatkina, the No 14 seed (6-3, 6-3).

Jabeur, ranked No 5, edged out Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina (6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2)) and benefited from the abandonment of Croat Donna Vekic (5-2) in the previous rounds of the Cincy Open.

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Cincinnati WTA 1000, other last eight results (Linder Tennis Family Center, hard, USD 2.788.468, most recent results first):

• Coco Gauff (7) beat Jasmine Paolini (Q): 6-3, 6-2
• Karolina Muchova beat Marie Bouzkova: 3-0 ret.
• Iga Swiatek (1) beat Marketa Vondrousova (10): 7-6 (3), 6-1