'Patience the key' as Ons Jabeur fights back from the brink to reach Stuttgart quarters

Ons Jabeur said her ability to practice patience this season paid off at the Stuttgart Open on Wednesday night when she fought back from the brink to defeat Jelena Ostapenko and reach the quarter-finals.

Jabeur was staring at a straight-sets loss as Ostapenko served for the match, but the Tunisian produced a rousing comeback to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-3. The third seed will face either sixth seed Elena Rybakina or Brazil's Beatriz Haddad Maia for a place in the semi-finals.

Should Jabeur face Rybakina, it will be the first meeting between the pair since last summer's Wimbledon final, which the Kazakh won from a set down.

Jabeur, who won her first title of the season last week at the Charleston Open following an injury-hit start to the year, had few answers for Ostapenko's power hitting in the first set as the Latvian recovered from getting broken in the first game to win six in a row and claim the opener in 30 minutes.

Jabeur looked to be heading for defeat when Ostapenko broke for a 2-1 lead in the second set and had the chance to serve out the victory at 5-4, but the Tunisian found a way back in to win three straight games to level the match.

The only break in the decider went Jabeur's way at 4-2 and the world No 4 maintained her advantage to ultimately seal the win on her fifth match point and extend her winning run to six matches.

"Definitely patience was one of the keys today, but I think most importantly was accepting that she was doing great and hitting winners," Jabeur, 28, said. "After all, it's her game. For me, I was, like, OK, she cannot play like this the whole match. If she does, then she deserves to win, obviously.

"I just think, especially on the return games, the moment I stayed patient, the better that I