NEW YORK — Ons Jabeur, by his extremely high standards, has endured a rough summer.
He was so devastated after losing in the Wimbledon final — his second in two years — that he couldn’t bring himself to play three weeks later in Montreal. The following week in Cincinnati, she lost her third match to Aryna Sabalenka. And then Jabeur made his way here — where a year ago, he lost in the final.
This US Open, however, requires his full attention — and maybe that’s a good thing. Despite a debilitating case of influenza that left her feeling dizzy and confused at times, Jabeur won her first-round match against Camila Osorio. She was forced to three sets by Czech teenager Linda Noskova (and lost in the third set), but won the second round.
US Open 2023: Draw | Order of play | Scores | 411
“Yes, emotionally it can be exhausting,” Jabeur said afterward, “but I know that if I just let it go, I’ll regret it later. That’s why I want to keep going and stay in New York as long as I can.”
On Saturday night, Jabeur guaranteed herself at least a few more days in the Big Apple, defeating No.31 seed Marie Bouzkova 5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3 in a wild and crazy game. This is the second consecutive three-set victory for the 29-year-old from Tunisia.
The competition ran a staggering (literally) 2 hours, 55 minutes.
Jabeur, who converted his third match point, produced 56 winners and 63 unforced errors.
“It’s never easy to play someone who’s injured,” Jabeur said in his courtroom interview. “I saw him struggling a little with his leg. I tried to run him over with drop shots. I’m trying to win the game.
“Great respect to him, for sure.”
On Monday, Jabeur met No.23 Zheng Qinwen, the rising 20-year-old from China, in the Round of 16. Zheng was a 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 winner over Lucia Bronzetti.
In their only meeting, Zheng edged Jabeur in Toronto last year, after the Tunisian retired during their second set.
In December, Bouzkova reached her career high ranking of No.24. How, then, to explain this unlikely fact: The 25-year-old from the Czech Republic has won her last four matches against Top 10 players, most recently No.6 Caroline Garcia of Montreal and No. .3 Jessica Pegula of Cincinnati.
In their first meeting last year in the Wimbledon quarterfinals, Bouzkova won the opening set 6-3 before Jabeur rallied to win the last two sets by identical 6-1 scores.
On Saturday night, Bouzkova also went down quickly, earning five break points with Jabeur serving at 1-2. Bouzkova, a relentless retriever, finally won the 16th match point, when Jabeur’s slice backhand found the net.
Jabeur fought back from a set point while trailing 5-2, then later converted her first break point chance on a Bouzkova backhand into the net. That got the set back on serve — but with a tiebreak looming, Bouzkova broke Jabeur again.
Jabeur missed two overheads, leading to Bouzkova’s second set point. Jabeur saved it, but an errant forehand and a 68-mile-per-hour double fault — her first of the match — gave Bouzkova the set.
In the second set, a volley error helped Jabeur convert his second break point for a 2-1 lead. It was even at 2-2 when Jabeur lost five straight points, the last being another double fault, but a third straight break gave Jabeur a 3-2 lead.
At 4-3, Bouzkova called for the trainer, having stumbled badly earlier in the match. Bouzkova continued, forcing Jabeur to try to serve out the set – which didn’t happen. Bouzkova tied the set when a wild forehand from Jabeur sailed, and held on for a 6-5 lead.
Jabeur, however, held back and forced a tiebreaker, where a winning overhead sent the match into a final set.
The tiebreaker seemed to spur Jabeur on, and after holding serve she broke Bouzkova — to love — to take a 2-0 lead. Naturally, Bouzkova broke right away and held to make it 2-2. Two games later, Bouzkova led 40-0, but the Czech lost five straight points, and Jabeur took a decisive 4-2 lead that she would not relinquish.