Ons Jabeur smiling all the way to first US Open quarterfinal

NEW YORK: I am through to the US Open quarterfinals for the first time in my career and I did it thanks to a tough win over Veronika Kudermetova at Arthur Ashe Stadium on Sunday night.

It’s never easy to play Veronika. She hits really hard and serves really well. But as soon as I got my rhythm and stepped inside the court a little bit more, it was much better for me. I was more aggressive and followed the tactics set out by my coach Issam (Jellali). I think that helped me a lot. So did the belief I had that I could come back after one break down. That was very, very important. I think I played the tiebreak really well and I was the better player on the important points.

I was smiling a lot on court today because I was watching all the people dancing in the stands. On some points I went full power on my shots and I hit so many lines, which usually I never do. In fact, it’s usually the opposite and my opponents are the ones hitting the lines against me. I’m definitely glad I got that win and hopefully I can continue playing this way because I love how I’m playing right now.

This was my first match at Arthur Ashe Stadium since 2017 when I played Coco Vandeweghe. Back then I was a different player, mostly just wanting to go on the court, have a great match and that’s it. Today, there was a lot of pressure, but I still managed to enjoy myself on court. I really wanted to win against Veronika, someone I had never beaten before in all three previous meetings, which was extra pressure.

Plus playing the night session, it wasn’t the same. I usually play at 11 a.m., so my schedule completely changed and I had to adapt because usually at 10 p.m. I’m sleeping in bed, not preparing for a match. I’m glad I adapted to all the