Ons Jabeur is becoming increasingly accustomed to firsts. At last year’s Australian Open she became the first Arab woman to reach a grand slam quarter-final. Last week in Birmingham, she became the first Tunisian to win a WTA Tour title. And having advanced to round three of Wimbledon for the first time, she made her first appearance on Centre Court. Naturally, she came first. In a contest that will be remembered both for Jabeur’s extraordinary shot-making and the remarkable mental fortitude of her opponent, the former champion Garbiñe Muguruza, the 21st seed recovered from a set down to prevail 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 and reach the fourth round of Wimbledon – for the first time.
Jabeur’s talent has long been recognised. Yet it is only now, at the age of 26, that she is finally beginning to reap tangible reward from her formidable array of gifts. Surrounded by identikit players who like nothing better than to clobber the life out of the ball from the back of the court, the 24th-ranked Jabeur has taken a different path, favouring tactical and technical variety over unalloyed force. It has taken her time to alight upon an approach that makes the most of her remarkable abilities, but it is not without reason that she is nicknamed the magician. When she combines her extraordinary touch and court craft with the kind of aggression she showed after conceding the opening set to Muguruza, Jabeur is irresistible.
In a contest that pitted Spanish potency against Tunisian artistry, Muguruza’s efforts to dominate with her heavy serving and power off the ground were thwarted by Jabeur’s bewildering array of slices, touch shots and angles. Denied the rhythm on which she thrives, Muguruza endured an afternoon of ceaseless toil, fending off a remarkable 24 of 29 break points and responding gamely to a relentless barrage of beautifully judged, wickedly spun drop shots from Jabeur. Rarely can a player not facing Andy Murray have spent more time on Centre Court sprinting into the forecourt to retrieve dying balls from shoelace height. As though that were not challenging enough, Muguruza, who has a history of ankle problems, suffered awkward slips on two consecutive points while serving for the opening set at 5-4. Through it all, her composure was exemplary. She recovered to take the first set after breaking in the next game with some excellent returning, and never stopped battling when the tide began to turn against her.
“I had so many opportunities in this match that it’s a little disappointing from my side because I couldn’t convert them,” said Muguruza, the 11th seed. “Especially in the second set I felt like I should have dominated more in these moments and taken the advantage, and I couldn’t. I think she’s in a good moment. She’s been playing well in the last year or year and a half, I would say. I think grass helps her game. I feel like she’s very comfy. I saw she won a tournament two weeks ago. She’s a very talented player. She needs to be with confidence to be able to play her game, and right now she is.”
That much was apparent as early as the second game, when Muguruza angled the ball across the face of the net after chasing down a drop shot, only to see Jabeur flick a stunning forehand winner around the net post. It was the perfect antidote to a nervous start by the lower-ranked player, who lost her opening service game with two double faults and a pair of errant forehands. “I was always looking to different players doing this shot, and I wanted to have this shot one day. It came true today,” said Jabeur. “It’s going to be one of my favourite shots that I did.” That is saying something, for this was a match packed with moments for the highlight reels. The diving drop volley with which Jabeur brought up two break points on Muguruza’s serve in the eighth game of the second set offered another standout moment, as did a bullet-like forehand winner that put her on course for an early breakthrough in the third. The latter was part of a devastating passage of play from Jabeur, who won 11 points in a row at the start of the final set to lay the foundations for victory.
“There were a lot of emotions during this match, you can see me getting angry, smiling, laughing,” said Jabeur. “It’s part of my personality. When you’re playing such an amazing player like her it is not easy, you have to take your opportunity whenever you have it. The first set was so close, I couldn’t find the rhythm in my serve, that’s why I got a little bit frustrated. I tried to come back and then she breaks me again, it was a little bit frustrating. The second set I tried to stay calmer and I think it went even better, third set even more. I got a little bit nervous at the end because I knew I had to finish and win my serve at the end.”
Jabeur will now play Iga Swiatek, the seventh seed, who had the look of a woman on a mission as she swept to a 6-1, 6-0 win against Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania. Swiatek has talked down her abilities on grass, emphasising her inexperience on a surface where she had just one senior victory coming into Wimbledon. Yet the Pole won the junior title at the All England Club three summers ago and, having come through in straight sets against the tricky Su-Wei Hsieh and Vera Zvonareva, the 2010 finalist, she is making quietly impressive progress through the bottom quarter. In Begu, 30, she faced a veteran of nine Wimbledon main draws. Yet experience is no substitute for decent form, and to say the Romanian struggled to find her game would be a major understatement. As Swiatek reeled off 10 points in a row to reach 5-0, the hapless Begu alternated between firing the ball long and dumping it into the bottom of the net. It was 19 minutes before she made it on to the scoreboard, and only another 36 minutes before Swiatek was on her way back to the locker room. She expects a sterner test against Jabeur.
“She can play slices, she can play flat balls, she can play topspins,” said Swiatek. “She has a wide range of options and she’s tricky. It’s going be tough. It’s the fourth round of a grand slam, so I’m not expecting an easy match.”
Aryna Sabalenka, the second seed, is also through to the fourth round for the first time after easing past Maria Camila Osorio Serrano of Colombia 6-0, 6-3. The Belarusian will play Elena Rybakina, conqueror of Serena Williams at the French Open, after the 18th seed beat Shelby Rogers of the United States 6-1, 6-4.
Karolina Pliskova, who beat fellow Czech Tereza Martincova 6-3, 6-3, will face the Russian wildcard Liudmila Samsonova in the last 16. Samsonova, who stormed to an unexpected victory in Berlin on the eve of the Championships, came through 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 against Sloane Stephens.