London, July 7 (IANS): Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur's trailblazing took her all the way into the Wimbledon 2022 final after triumphing 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 over Tatjana Maria in a 1-hour, 43-minute semifinal clash, here on Thursday.
With the win, Jabeur becomes the first Tunisian, first Arab and first African woman to reach a Grand Slam final in the Open Era.
Ever since cracking the Top 50 in February of 2020, she has been setting records for her country and region. Having won 22 of her past 24 matches, the 27-year-old has given herself the opportunity to go for the biggest milestone of all.
Before Jabeur, the only Tunisian to reach the Top 100 of the WTA rankings was Selima Sfar, who peaked at No 75 in July 2001.
Jabeur became the first player from her country to reach a WTA final at Moscow 2018 to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal at the 2020 Australian Open, and to crack the Top 50 a month later, to win a WTA title at Birmingham 2021, paving the way for a Top 10 debut in October last year.
This season began on a negative note for Jabeur when she was forced to pull out of the Australian Open due to a back injury. But since returning in February, she has gone from strength to strength.
Her overall 2022 record is 36-9, including final appearances in five of her last seven events and titles in two of them, Madrid on clay and Berlin on grass. Including the latter, Jabeur is now on her second 10-match winning streak of the year.