15:06
Jabeur – Rybakina 5:5
Jabeur ultimately completed this task with a clean sheet, ultimately benefiting from two slight mistakes by the opponent. At a score of 5:5 everything remains open.
15:04
Jabeur – Rybakina 4:5
As a result, Jabeur now has to serve against losing the set. With nerves of steel, the Tunisian pulls up the rallies, looks for her way forward and executes with a high forehand volley.
15:03
Jabeur – Rybakina 4:5
Shortly thereafter, Jabeur misses a backhand longline. That gives Rybakina the 5:4 lead.
15:02
Jabeur – Rybakina 4:4
Rybakina brings in good length, applying pressure and driving the opponent into the forehand error. That gives her two cue balls.
15:00
Jabeur – Rybakina 4:4
Jabeur produces her second ace of the day. When the first serve comes, the 28-year-old has only missed the point once. Now last year’s finalist roars to zero again and is 4:4.
14:57
Jabeur – Rybakina 3:4
Now Rybakina also marches through her service without any problems. It still seems a mystery how the two breaks to zero could have happened. The 24-year-old does it for the first time today with a clean sheet and thus submits again.
14:55
Jabeur – Rybakina 3:3
Rybakina gets into the rally on the second ball and is in charge. But Jabeur turns the tide with praise. The Kazakh does not bring the felt ball back over the net. The Tunisian booked the game win to 3: 3.
14:53
Jabeur – Rybakina 2:3
Suddenly things are going according to plan for the serving Jabeur. Three game balls are quickly at hand, as if these two heavy breaks had never happened.
14:51
Jabeur – Rybakina 2:3
With a winner on the forehand return, Jabeur makes the immediate re-break perfect. And that also goes to zero across the stage. Everything back in order!
14:49
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:3
It’s gone with the sovereignty of the servers. Now Rybakina gets into trouble too. 0:30! After that, the native of Moscow made a stop and played the forehand briefly cross, but Jabeur is quick and pushes her forehand into the open field and now has three breakballs in turn.
14:49
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:3
Finally, it’s the backhand error. Without a word, Jabeur hands over her service. Rybakina plays some good returns but otherwise doesn’t have to do much for this break.
14:47
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:2
Jabeur is now always missing a few centimetres. A challenge doesn’t save anything. Suddenly it is 0:30. After that, the Tunisian hits a forehand for the third time and faces three breakballs.
14:44
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:2
The following two points against the Kazakh, who ends the game with a well-aimed forehand and gets through again to zero. So far, the servers have not revealed any weaknesses.
14:43
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:1
Rybakina makes the first double fault of the match. It’s still 30:15, so there’s no threat of trouble.
14:42
Jabeur – Rybakina 1:1
With an unattainable forehand, the North African holds her service game to zero and equalizes to 1:1.
14:41
Jabeur – Rybakina 0:1
Jabeur starts with an ace. More points are quickly at hand. There are currently no rallies worth mentioning.
14:40
Jabeur – Rybakina 0:1
Now Jabeur can no longer be asked, brings her first winner with the forehand. But when a backhand return from the Tunisian doesn’t make it over the net shortly afterwards, Rybakina uses her second ball.
14:39
Jabeur 0-0 Rybakina
Then Rybakina ignites the first ace. Afterwards, thanks to the defending champion’s backhand, there is the first winning shot of the game.
14:37
1 sentence
Now Rybakina opens the match and has to try the second serve. An entertaining rally immediately developed with a net attack by the Kazakhs. Jabeur’s cross-played forehand passing ball just doesn’t fit.
14:35
Head 2 Head
For the fifth time both players face each other in an official tennis match. The balance so far is balanced and, with one exception, it was always over three sets. First there were three hard court duels. 2019 in Wuhan Rybakina had the better end. Jabeur turned the tables in Dubai in 2021. The semifinals of Chicago 2021 went smoothly to the Tunisian. And we already discussed the Wimbledon final a year ago.
14:30
Entry and coin toss
At this moment, our protagonists enter the center court. After a few steps of preparation, the French chair umpire Kader Nouni meets at the net to vote. The coin falls in favor of the Kazakh, who decides to serve. Then both play a bit.
14:26
Jabeur once number 2
Jabeur played her second major final last season at the US Open and experienced her seventh final defeat on the WTA tour. After that, the right-hander climbed to second place in the world rankings. Otherwise, it was only enough for four tournament wins so far. The greatest success is undoubtedly the 1,000 of Madrid 2022. Earlier this year, Jabeur started with the semi-finals in Adelaide and won the 500 of Charleston in April. In Stuttgart it was again the semi-finals before she only made a noteworthy appearance in Roland Garros as a quarter-finalist. The sixth in the world rankings only found their grass form here on Church Road last week.
14:16
Jabeur at Wimbledon
Jabeur is in the main draw for the sixth time at Wimbledon, having previously failed to qualify three times since 2013 and then not progressing past the first two rounds on three occasions. The Tunisian only made people sit up and take notice as a quarter-finalist in 2021, before she sniffed the title twelve months ago. This year, the 28-year-old started effortlessly against Magdalena Frech and Zhuoxuan Bai. Against Bianca Andreescu the 6th seeded North African defied a set deficit and the day before yesterday she surprisingly clearly dominated the 9th seeded two-time title holder Petra Kvitová, winning 6:0, 6:3 in one hour.
14:06
defending champion
It is only the third time that Rybakina has been in the main draw on the sacred pitch, having previously failed in 2019 and failing in Roehampton in the last qualifying round. 24 months ago, the Kazakh debuted as a round of 16. And now the 24-year-old is already the defending champion. Only at the beginning of this mission did the 3rd seeded Kazakh lose a set last week, but still impressively turned the game against Shelby Rogers. After that, she eliminated Alizé Cornet and Katie Boulter in two sentences, before the day before yesterday Beatriz Haddad Maia’s injury gave her a short and less than half-hour working day.
13:56
Rybakina 2023
Twelve months ago, Rybakina had the better end of the Wimbledon final after falling behind in a set and surprisingly won her first and still only major title. Overall, the Kazakh has five tournament wins. In a way, the right-hander confirmed last year’s great success at the Australian Open. There she reached the final in January. In the further course of the season, the native of Moscow played three 1,000 finals, won in Indian Wells and Rome, and climbed to a third place in the world rankings that she had never achieved before. She could only lose this position to today’s opponent if she wins the title on Saturday.
13:46
Welcome
Welcome to the second quarter-final day in Wimbledon! At the Lawn Grand Slam, two semi-finalists are still being sought in the individual competitions for women and men. When Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina meet on Center Court, we experience a repeat of last year’s final. It should start at 14:30 CEST.