Despite a slight scare on Thursday morning, January 2, the Tunisian tennis player reached the quarter-finals of the Brisbane tournament in Australia (WTA 500), qualifying at the expense of the Armenian Elina Avanesyan (22 years old) in three sets. Narrative.
After winning the first set (6-4), Ons Jabeur will have indeed suffered against the 43rd in the world during the second set lost 1-6, even if we can think that she “let this set pass” , in short, moving back to jump better, in tennis jargon.
Another small warning however, Jabeur experienced a few thrills including in the third set when his opponent dangerously managed to get back to the score (4-4), after having been behind (4-1). Mentally strong, the Tunisian finally managed to win the third set (6-4), notably by causing a large number of direct errors committed by Avanesyan. This was particularly hampered by the high bounces of the balls aimed at the body as well as the formidable cushioning, a trademark of Jabeur.
The reason for this slight temporary poor performance of the latter is a broken first service ball (a single ace for 54% of the first ball), and only 6 break points converted on no less than 15 occasions, a chronic fragility on this aspect of the game on which Ons Jabeur will have to focus for the rest of the hostilities in this tough competition.
An enticing display in the quarter-finals
Because the Tunisian champion will face in the next round the young Russian revelation Mirra Andreeva, 16th in the world at just 17 years old. Especially since in the only meeting between the two players in the past, Andreeva had the upper hand a year ago in Melbourne, Australia, also on a fast surface.
Some then mentioned the still-living after-effects of Jabeur's second consecutive final loss at Wimbledon to explain the drop in form against the young 16-year-old at the time.
In great form, Mirra Andreeva, reached the quarters by beating the Czech Linda Noskova, 26th in the world, in two short sets (6-3, 6-0), and will therefore be the freshest physically. But for his return to competition following a break of more than four months due to injuries, Ons Jabeur called on his fans not to worry too much, “recovery is part of the journey” of any high-level athlete .
