Wimbledon: Jabeur rallies past Bouzkova to reach maiden major semi-final

Since losing in the opening round at this year's Roland Garros in a shock defeat, Jabeur has won 10 straight matches on grass, having arrived at the All England Club with a title in Berlin in the lead-up. Currently playing at her highest career ranking of second, Jabeur will next meet her friend -- 103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria, who earlier beat fellow German Jule Niemeier, for a place in Saturday's final. Jabeur said it will be tough to play against her "barbecue buddy" Maria, who returned from maternity leave only last year after giving birth to her second daughter and reached her first major semi-final at the 47th attempt.

"I love Tatjana so much and her family is really amazing," Jabeur said. "She's a great friend. I am really happy for her that she's in the semi-final. "She's one of the examples that I wish players look up to because she really suffered to play and to win rounds in Grand Slams and look at her now. She's in a semi-final after having two babies. It's a really amazing story." The story of Jabeur, 27, has been no less amazing as she became the first Arab to reach a Grand Slam singles semi-final and is bidding to become the first woman from Africa to win a major. Jabeur, who had also reached the last eight of the 2020 Australian Open, said she was trying to inspire a new generation of tennis players in her country. "I hope this could push them more to do better and see more players on tour," she said.

STOIC DEFENCEComing into her second straight Wimbledon quarter-final, Jabeur had yet to lose a set in her four rounds. She used plenty of drop shots in the opening stages of the first set against Bouzkova but the 23-year-old Czech read them well to blunt one of the Tunisian's main weapons. Jabeur failed to