Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur, the No. 5 seed and a Wimbledon finalist earlier this summer, denied Ajla Tomljanovic a second round of heroics. The Tunisian woman won, 6-4, 7-6, to advance to the semifinal here for the first time, becoming the first African woman to reach the semis at US Open in the Open Era.
.@Ons_Jabeur earns her semifinal spot in straight sets!#USOpen pic.twitter.com/Z3rPMrHZFw
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) September 6, 2022
“I was just trying to do my job and hopefully inspire more and more women from Africa,” Jabeur said. “Really it means a lot to me.”
Asked on-court about a couple of racquet tosses during the match and how that squares with her nickname in Tunisia, the “Minister of Happiness,” the normally jovial Jabeur joked: “I think I’m going to be fired from my job as Minister of Happiness!”
“I apologize for my behavior,” she added. “I really just wanted to keep calm, but the racquet kept slipping away from my hands.”
Jabeur can again climb to the No. 2 ranking in the world—a career high that the Tunisian held earlier this year, dependent upon other results.
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US Open Ons Jabeur Ajla Tomljanovic Tennis Sports Kolkata
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