Ons Jabeur and Tatjana Maria will need to set aside their close friendship on Thursday when the pair meet for a place in the Wimbledon final. “I love Tatjana so much, and her family is really amazing,” Jabeur said after defeating Marie Bouzkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 in Tuesday's quarter-finals. “She’s my barbecue buddy, so it’s going to be tough to play her obviously.” There will be time for barbecues and family get togethers after Wimbledon.
For now, Jabeur is taking aim at more history, as she seems to do almost any time she steps foot on a tennis court. Having become the first Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final at the 2020 Australian Open - one of many milestones, including the first Arab to win a WTA Tour title and first to win a Masters tournament - the Tunisian made it a step further at her third attempt, breaking yet new ground for players from the region. “It means a lot,” said Jabeur, who at world No 2 is the highest-ranked African or Arab player in history. “I was hoping that I could get to this stage for a long time already.
I was talking a little bit to (former Moroccan player) Hicham Arazi, and he told me, ‘Arabs always lose in the quarter-finals and we are sick of it.
Please break this'. I was, like, I’ll try, my friend.” As the third seed and form player in the tournament, Jabeur finds herself in unfamiliar territory as the overall favourite to win the title.