Ons Jabeur joins Swiatek in Italian Open Final

She was forced to save two break points in that game but held on to take a one-set lead with 16 winners.

Kasatkina came back stronger in the second.

Her stellar defense and untimely drop-shot errors by Jabeur resulted in Kasatkina breaking Jabeur twice in the set as she leveled the clash.

Jabeur missed out on her first seven break points in the third, but she broke Kasatkina for 4-2 with a forehand winner at the end of a long rally.

However, Kasatkina surged back again, winning more all-court rallies to reel off three straight games and serve for the match at 5-4.

A forehand winner by Jabeur on match point in that game spurred on the No.9 seed, and she broke for 5-5 with another winner on the sideline before grabbing the last three games of the match, completing her comeback with one final drop-shot winner.

She is now a win away from becoming only the third player to win the titles at both Rome and Madrid in a single year, after Dinara Safina in 2009 and Serena Williams in 2013.

Ons Jabeur facing Swiatek in the Italian Open final will be the first time the pair has met on clay.

Jabeur has won two of her three meetings with Swiatek.

Swiatek won their first match in 2019, but Jabeur has won the last two, including at Wimbledon last year.

In the final, one’s brilliant streak is going to come to an end.