Ons Jabeur rallies past Marie Bouzkova at Wimbledon to become the first Arab or North African player to reach a Grand Slam semifinal

Ons Jabeur came from a set down to rally past Marie Bouzkova in the quarterfinals of the 2022 Wimbledon Championships on Tuesday. The 27-year-old Tunisian beat Bouzkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Centre Court to reach the semifinals at a Major for the first time.

Last year, she reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon in a historic first for Arab tennis. Now, Jabeur has gone one step further to become the first Arab or North African player – man or woman – to reach a Grand Slam semifinal.

In the Open Era, Arab and North African players were previously 0-11 (win-loss) in Major quarterfinals. This includes two losses by Jabeur herself — she lost to eventual champion Sofia Kenin at the 2020 Australian Open, and Aryna Sabalenka at SW19 12 months ago.

Jabeur is also only the second African woman in the Open Era to reach the semifinals at Wimbledon, after South African Yvonne Vermaak in 1983.

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“She's one of the examples that I wish players would look up to” - Ons Jabeur on Tatjana Maria

Tatjana Maria at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships.

After making last-eight exits at a Grand Slam twice in her career, Ons Jabeur registered a hard-fought victory over World No. 66 Marie Bouzkova to make it through to the semifinals.

Speaking after the match, Jabeur said that she was glad to have “woken up” after losing the first set and emerge victorious.

“I knew that she was going to come [at me] and make me work to win points. She's a talented player and I'm really happy that I woke up in the second set and I played much better in the third set,” Ons Jabeur said.

She'll face fellow first-time semifinalist Tatjana Maria for a spot in the Wimbledon title match. Maria also came from a set down to defeat fellow German Jule Niemeier in her quarterfinal.

Jabeur and Marie are good friends off the court and spend a lot of time together with each other’s families. The Tunisian is looking forward to facing Maria and said that she was a role model for the players on the tour.

“I love Tatijna so much and her family is really amazing. She's my barbecue buddy, you know,” Ons Jabeur said, laughing.

“It's gonna be tough to play her, obviously. She's a great friend and I am really happy for her that she's in the semifinal. She's one of the examples that I wish players would look up to because she really suffered to play, to win rounds and Grand Slams. And look at her now, she's a semifinalist after having two babies! It's really amazing story,” she added.

Maria is the second European player to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam after turning 34, following Mirjana Lucic at the 2017 Australian Open.

Since 1984, she is only the fourth female player ranked outside the top-100 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals; Mirjana Lucic in 1999 (#134), Jie Zheng in 2008 (#133) and Serena Williams in 2018 (#181) are the others.

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Also Check Out :- Wimbledon 2022 Results