Tunisian Ons Jabeur becomes first African in Wimbledon’s final
Ons Jabeur defeated Tatjana Maria by scores of 6-2, 3-6, and 6-1 to advance to Wimbledon’s Open Era final. She became the first African woman to do so in the history of the sport.
Before Jabeur’s historic win, no player from the region has advanced past the semifinals of a Grand Slam singles tournament since South Africa’s Amanda Coetzer did so in 1997.
Since winning the title in Birmingham last summer and moving on to the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Jabeur has maintained her stellar year.
After a strong clay-court season and another grass-court victory in Berlin by reaching her first Grand Slam final, she is now ranked third in the world.
Maria, a mother-of-two went down fighting after bringing her unprecedented 35th appearance at a major to a close in the semi-final stage, but Jabeur proved to be too strong for Maria in the end.
Before this summer, Maria had never advanced past the second round of a Grand Slam and had just given birth in April. Despite this, she lost to Jabeur, a first-time finalist.
Read Also: How Tunisian Ons Jabeur won a Historic Tennis Title in Madrid 2022
Jabeur will face Simona Halep or Elena Rybakina in Saturday’s finals.
“It is a dream come true after years and years of work and sacrifice,” said Jabeur. “I’m really happy it is paying off and now there is one more match to come.”
She has risen up the rankings, won WTA tournaments, and regularly shattering barriers as a result. Jabeur, who is regarded as the “Minister of Happiness” in her country, is well-liked throughout Africa, the Arab world, and Tunisia since she is a trailblazer in these regions.
“I’m a proud Tunisian woman here today and I know in Tunisia they are going crazy right now,” she said.
“I try to inspire as much as I can and I want to see more Arab and African players on the tour.”
Source: News Agencies
Abeeb Lekan Sodiq is a Managing Editor & Writer at theafricandream.net. He is as well a Graphics Designer and also known as Arakunrin Lekan.
