Home » Jabeur, in the Rome final after saving a match point against Kasatkina

Jabeur, in the Rome final after saving a match point against Kasatkina

by Horace Rogers

Rome, May 14 (EFE).- Tunisian Ons Jabeur, recent winner of the Mutua Madrid Open, qualified this Saturday for the WTA 1000 final in Rome after beating the Russian 6-4, 1-6 and 7- 5 Daria Kasatkina, who got a match point, will face Poland’s Iga Swiatek in the final this Sunday.

Jabeur suffered, as he did against Greece’s Maria Sakkari, but came around again. Once again, the new Madrid champion showed enough strength and endurance to deserve to play the final in the Italian capital.

In front of him, he had the revelation of the tournament, a Kasatkina who did not enter the pools at the start, but who, with his good tennis, turned out to be a fair semi-finalist. The one who was the executioner of the Spaniard Paula Badosa in the round of 16, had the game in her hands, but spoiled a ‘match-ball’ which turned against her.

Jabeur started the competition better on center court at Foro Italico, although after breaking the Russian’s first serve he saw how she snatched two in a row to go down 3-1. The Tunisian canceled the “break” with another break and got one more to get 5-4 and a sentence with her serve.

The second set, however, was dominated from start to finish by number 23 in the standings. Kasatkina gave his opponent no chance with precise points at the corner and by being very solid in the rest and in the back of the field. Jabeur hurt with drop shots, but that wasn’t enough to stop the Russian taking the set 6-1 and forcing the tiebreaker.

In the final stake, with 5-4 in her favor, Kasatkina was able to end the match with a match point to certify her final. But Jabeur already showed on the last lap that he didn’t give up easily and he pulled himself together. The Russian did not recover from the blow of having let slip the final and her rival took the opportunity to make the final 7-5.

In the final game of the tournament, the No. 7 in the standings will face heavy favorite No. 1 Iga Swiatek in what will be their fourth meeting. Jabeur has already beaten the Pole twice, while Swiatek only knows one win over the Tunisian.

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