Ons Jabeur makes grand slam history as she reaches Wimbledon semifinals

By Ben Morse, CNN

Updated 0832 GMT (1632 HKT) July 6, 2022

Ons Jabeur celebrates making history after beating Marie Bouzková in their women's quarterfinal at Wimbledon.

(CNN)Ons Jabeur made history on the grass courts of Wimbledon Tuesday as she became the first Arab or North African woman to reach the semifinals of a grand slam.

The world No. 3 rallied from a set down, overcoming a nervy start, to beat Marie Bouzková 3-6 6-1 6-1 on Centre Court. But after reaching the final four, she said that it had been a long time coming for her personally. Jabeur celebrates after coming back to beat Bouzková.«I was hoping that I could get to this stage for a long time already. I struggled a few times in the quarterfinal,» Jabeur told the media afterwards. «I was talking a little bit to (former world No. 22) Hicham Arazi, and he told me: 'Arabs always lose in the quarterfinals and we are sick of it. Please break this.' I was like: 'I'll try, my friend'… We were just texting, and he was really happy. He was like: 'Thank you for finally making the semifinal. Now, you can really go and get the title.'»Read MoreFor Jabeur, a quarterfinalist at last year's Wimbledon and at the Australian Open in 2020, it was a case of finding her feet on the historic court. After a sloppy first set, in which Bouzková's defense and speed helped unsettle Jabeur into making untimely mistakes, the Tunisian finally found her feet. The 27-year-old hit more winners than errors in the final two sets, winning eight consecutive games from 2-1 in the second set. And she won eight of the last nine points in the final set to clinch an important and groundbreaking victory. Jabeur will face fellow first-time semifinalist Tatjana Maria for a spot in the final.Maria is