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Ons Jabeur on track for more history as Wimbledon title comes into sharp focus

thenationalnews.com

On a day when Wimbledon celebrated 100 years of its hallowed Centre Court, and a string of legendary past champions was introduced into the arena to rapturous applause, somewhere else on the grounds of the All England Club, a current player was preparing to continue her latest bid for more history of her own.

Ons Jabeur has been breaking ground for much of her career but those pioneering efforts have reached an entirely new level the past few years.

The Tunisian can lay claim to numerous 'first Arab woman' milestones in tennis: the first to reach a Grand Slam quarter-final, the first to win a WTA Tour title, the first to win a Masters title.

At a career-high No 2, Jabeur is the highest-ranked African or Arab player – male or female – in history. An inspiration to African and Arab girls and boys, it is a status Jabeur has embraced. "I don't come from a rich family, so you have to stop finding excuses, go for it, and be yourself," she said on Sunday after booking her place in the quarter-finals with a 7-6, 6-4 over Belgian 24th seed Elise Mertens.

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Ons Jabeur ended the magical run of good friend Tatjana Maria at Wimbledon to move one victory away from creating her own fairytale story at the All England Club.
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.
HAMMAM SOUSSE, Tunisia: Ons Jabeur will make history on Thursday when she walks on to the Centre Court at Wimbledon as the first Arab woman to compete in a Grand Slam semifinal.
The Tunisian was broken twice as she lost the first set but lost only two games after that to power to a 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 win in a match lasting one hour and 47 minutes.  
Six-time champion Novak Djokovic targets an 11th Wimbledon semi-final on Tuesday as Ons Jabeur, the last top 15 women's seed standing, eyes an Arab landmark performance. Top seed Djokovic will reach his 43rd Slam semi-final if he can defeat Jannik Sinner. The odds are stacked in Djokovic's favour with the Italian 20-year-old yet to get past the quarter-finals of a major. "I kind of see a little bit of myself in his game from the back of the court, playing flat backhand, constantly staying on the back of the line, trying to put pressure on opponents," said Djokovic.

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