Tunisian Ons Jabeur dumped world number three Karolina Pliskova out of the WTA event in Doha on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals, whil...
Tunisian Ons Jabeur dumped world number three Karolina Pliskova out of the WTA event in Doha on Wednesday to reach the quarter-finals, while top-ranked Ashleigh Barty received a walkover.
Australian Open quarter-finalist Jabeur came through a tight match against Pliskova, winning 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a last-eight tie against Petra Kvitova on Thursday.
Jabeur, who became the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final in Melbourne, was broken when leading 4-2 in the deciding set, but hit back immediately before claiming her first win over a top-10 player since 2018.
The 25-year-old managed to see out the win despite appearing to struggle with a hamstring injury in the closing games.
“I had a sharp pain on my hamstring, right hamstring, when I was going for the forehand at 4-2 my serve,” Jabeur told wtatennis.com.
“I didn’t really want to call the physio, so people would not think that I’m doing it on purpose, and plus I didn’t want to break the rhythm I was trying to maintain.”
Earlier on Wednesday, two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova had battled past former Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko 6-2, 5-7, 6-1.
“I mean Petra is Petra. She plays unbelievable and she’s a tough player,” added Jabeur.
“Hopefully, my hamstring will be better. I’m going to do...
