If she will do this (again), I will kill her – Bencic jokes on the Jabeur tweener in the Charleston final
Down 6-4 in the first set tiebreak and facing two set points against her, Jabuer hit a front-facing tweener while Bencic was at the net that left the crowd and those watching online stunned
Ons Jabeur, Charleston 2023 – © Mic Smith/AP/SIPA
Ons Jabeur is known to pull out a few magical shots from her bag of tricks every time she takes to the court. On Sunday, during the final of the WTA Charleston Open against defending champion Belinda Bencic, the Tunisian pulled out one such shot that left the fans in the crowd and those of us watching online stunned.
Down 6-4 in the first set tiebreak and facing two set points against her, Jabuer hit a front-facing tweener while Bencic was at the net and then followed it with an exquisite backhand slice passing shot. That winner followed by a couple of other shots on the line helped Jabeur win the first set 8-6 in the breaker en route to winning the match 7-6, 6-4 to lift the fourth WTA singles title of her career.
I saw the ball coming at me, so I was like, ‘OK, I’m just going to give her one more ball to play, and see
Ons Jabuer
Bencic, who described playing her good friend as “a pain” during the on-court presentation ceremony, admitted that she will be haunted by images of the tweener when she goes to bed on Sunday but added that she would get over the same quickly.
“I will have to accept the fact, and hope that maybe I will play her in a Grand Slam final and she will not do this. If she will do this, I will kill her,” Bencic said after the match as quoted by the WTA Tour. “The tiebreak at 6-4, I think three out of the four points she hit just a straight line. And this is well done because she went for the shot, and it paid off. Maybe in another time it will not pay off.”
“For sure, I will go to sleep thinking about this shot, like it will be in front of my eyes, but next week I will not think about it anymore because we have a new tournament. My career is so long. I will play many finals. I will lose many, I will win many, but there are no regrets for that,” the Swiss woman added.
Jabeur, who had lost to Bencic in the final here 12 months ago, admitted that she felt she was lucky with that shot and her quick reactions helped her get back into the point.
“I reacted very fast,” Jabeur said. “I saw the ball coming at me, so I was like, ‘OK, I’m just going to give her one more ball to play, and see.’ I’m surprised that she didn’t anticipate on the cross, because that’s where I usually play my shots. But I think I was lucky and creative with that shot, which was amazing, and it changed up the game a bit for the first set, for sure.”
