Staff Reporter.
Tunisian third seed Ons Jabeur, the highest surviving seed in the women’s draw, recovered from losing her first set at this year’s Wimbledon to beat Czech Marie Bouzkova 3-6 6-1 6-1 on Tuesday and reach her maiden Grand Slam semifinal.
Since going down in the opening round at this year’s Roland Garros in a shock defeat, Jabeur has won 10 straight matches on grass, having arrived at the All England Club with a title in Berlin in the lead-up.
Currently playing at her highest career ranking of second, Jabeur will meet the 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria, who earlier beat fellow German Jule Niemeier, for a place in Saturday’s final.
Playing in her second straight Wimbledon quarter-final, Jabeur in the first set failed to find a way past the stoic defence of the 66th-ranked Bouzkova, who never made it past the second round of a Grand Slam before this year’s championships.
The 23-year-old Bouzkova broke twice to take the opening set but Jabeur, bidding to become the first African woman to win a major, came roaring back to level the match with three breaks in the second.
Riding on the momentum, Jabeur again broke twice to rack up a 4-0 lead and win eight straight games before the Czech halted the juggernaut by getting a break back.
It proved to be only a minor hiccup for Jabeur who picked up another break in the next game and then held serve to love to seal the contest on her first match point.
MARIA WINS ALL-GERMAN CLASH
Germany’s Maria came from behind to beat compatriot Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 and reach her first Grand Slam semifinal.
The 34-year-old mother of two will play either third seed Jabeur for a place in the final.
“I have goosebumps everywhere,” said Maria, who returned from maternity leave just under a year ago.
“My two little girls, it’s a dream to live this with my family, to live this with my two girls. Almost one year ago I gave birth, it’s crazy.”
She said would like to face world number two Jabeur in the semifinals.
“It would be really nice to play her,” she said. “She is part of my family, she loves my kids, she is playing with them every day.”
In only the third all-German Grand Slam quarterfinal in the Open Era, Niemeier took control from the start of the match, breaking at her first opportunity and going on to win the set.
The 22-year-old then broke again at the start of the second set to take an iron grip on the match but Maria stormed back, breaking three times to level the match.
World number 97 Niemeier again drew first blood in the deciding set, breaking in the fifth game and holding serve to lead 4-2.
But Maria hit back to level at 4-4 and broke again in the 12th game to seal the victory.
The German veteran, who saved two match points in the previous round, made her Grand Slam debut in 2007 and had never progressed beyond the third round at a major before this year’s Wimbledon.