Tennis: Second seed Jabeur sent packing by Vondrousova in second round
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur hits a return against Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova during their second-round match at the Australian Open.
PHOTO: AFP
Follow topic:
MELBOURNE – On the comeback trail after a serious wrist injury, Czech world No. 86 Marketa Vondrousova had no problems getting into the swing of things on Thursday.
The 23-year-old shocked second seed Ons Jabeur 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in 1hr 41min in the second round of the Australian Open.
Her Tunisian opponent is the latest seed to fall at Melbourne Park.
“I think she just got better, you know, in the second set,” Vondrousova insisted.
“She played some amazing points. I just tried to stay focused and play my game. And I’m just so happy to be through.”
Vondrousova was ranked as high as 14th in 2019 – the year she made it all the way to the French Open final – and is getting back into the groove after an injury-hit 2022 when she had surgery on her left wrist.
“It’s always tough to come back after such a long time,” said the left-hander, who reached the Australian Open last 16 in 2021.
“I just started in November and I felt good and I did great.
“I worked on my fitness a lot and I’m just very happy to be back on this level and to be able to play these sorts of matches.”
Jabeur, 28, had only fleetingly showed the form that took her to two Grand Slam finals in 2022 – Wimbledon and the US Open – during a shaky first-round win.
She eventually saw off 98th-ranked Tamara Zidansek 7-6 (10-8), 4-6, 6-1 after 2hr 17min in an unconvincing display littered with unforced errors.
And in a late-night match on Thursday that did not start until 11.24pm on Rod Laver Arena, she struggled again.
Vondrousova had lost all three of her previous tour-level matches against Jabeur, but this was their first meeting on a hard court.
The Czech secured the first set in just 24 minutes of dominant tennis.
Jabeur hit back at the start of the second set but was broken again when serving for the set at 5-3.
She then blew a set point on Vondrousova’s next service game, but at 6-5 created another chance and this time converted.
It was a rare moment to celebrate in a desperate performance devoid of any spark against an inspired opponent who simply made fewer errors.
Vondrousova was not to be denied, quickly securing a triple break in the final set for a famous win.
It puts her into an all-Czech third-round clash with Linda Fruhvirtova, the world No. 82.
Jabeur could only rue her poor display, in which she sprayed 50 unforced errors and had her serve broken eight times.
But it was not the only major upset of the day.
American world No. 113 Katie Volynets stunned ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in just her sixth main draw appearance at a Grand Slam.
Volynets becomes the first US qualifier to reach the third round in women’s singles at Melbourne Park since Lindsay Davenport in 1993.
In another match, fourth seed Caroline Garcia clinched a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 win over former US Open finalist Leylah Fernandez.
Olympic champion Belinda Bencic beat Claire Liu 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, while Aryna Sabalenka swept past Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1.
AFP, REUTERS
