Seventh seed overcomes struggles on serve to shake off American’s challenge
© Cédric Lecocq/FFTOns Jabeur has the box set of Grand Slam quarter-finals in the bag after withstanding American Bernarda Pera’s charge on Court Philippe-Chatrier on Monday.
Roland-Garros was the sole major at which the Tunisian had not reached the last eight, but that hoodoo was finally lifted following a 6-3, 6-1 triumph.
The seventh seed had her work cut out surging back against in-form Serbian Olga Danilovic in a three-set third round and was determined to get off to a better start in her return to Chatrier.
Her opponent had never ventured as far at a major and made the more nervous start when she was broken in the opening game. It quickly set the tone for the first set.
While Jabeur managed to capitalise for 2-0, it was the last time either held serve in the opening set as each of the nine games featured break points.
One of three Americans in the last 16, Pera was no slouch on Europe’s red clay, having claimed her two career titles in Budapest and Hamburg and she had beaten Jabeur in one of the pair’s two prior showdowns.
While she continued to struggle on serve she soon settled and wreaked havoc on return.
Unable to serve out the opening set, Jabeur continued a trend and reliably broke to take it in 34 minutes and it was not until the third game of the second set that she finally brought an end to nine successive breaks.
It lifted a hefty weight from her shoulders.
Unbroken again, Jabeur served out victory against her fellow 28-year-old in 64 minutes to book a quarter-final showdown with either 15th seed Beatriz Haddad-Maia or Sara Sorribes Tormo.
In a horror day on serve for both, Pera struggled most.
She was broken eight times from as many service games and converted just four of 12 break points.
Jabeur’s 64 per cent winning ratio on first-serve points and 39 per cent on second serves leaves significant room for improvement if she is to advance further.
Her opponent though only won 38 per cent of first-serve points and 6 per cent on second serves.
The Tunisian’s 16 winners were only three more than Pera’s but her 14 unforced errors were fewer than half.
Jabeur on reaching her first Roland-Garros quarter-final: "It was the only Grand Slam missing. I'm very happy with the performance, with the way I was playing, especially coming back after an injury.
"I was just taking it one match at a time, trying to make it to the second week. Now I'm gonna push more for the next few matches. Yeah, hopefully better than a quarter-final final here, looking for a semi-final.
"To be honest, I never thought about like something was missing or I didn't reach all four of them. I guess I never really thought about it. Maybe it's a good thing. It came, and hopefully we'll set it to all semi-finals and then all finals."
ROLAND-GARROS
20 May - 9 June 2024
