Tunisian Ons Jabeur notched one of the finest performances of her career, reaching the final of the Madrid tournament on Thursday at the expense of Russian qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova (6-2, 6-3).
Jabeur (10th, 27) will play the sixth final of his career on Saturday. She has only one title to her name so far, obtained in Birmingham in 2021.
In the WTA 1000 tournament, the category equivalent to the Masters 1000 on the ATP circuit, the highest after the Grand Slams, she had never done better than a semi-final (at Indian Wells 2021).
A “novice” will be sacred
In the final, Jabeur will face either the American Jessica Pegula (14th) or the Swiss Jil Teichmann (35th), opposed in the evening. Neither of his potential opponents has won so far in a tournament of this caliber.
For her first two tournaments of the season on clay, the Tunisian reached the final in Charleston (United States) and the quarter-finals in Stuttgart (Germany).
In the previous round in the Spanish capital, she put an authoritative end to the career of Simona Halep, ex-world No.1 today 21st and double Grand Slam winner (6-3, 6-2 in 67 minutes).