Ons Jabeur continued to make history at Wimbledon becoming the first Arab woman to reach the semis of the competition after her latest win.
The highest surviving seed in the women’s draw recovered from losing her first set to beat Czech Marie Bouzkova 3-6 6-1 6-1 and reach her maiden Grand Slam semi-final.
Coming into her second straight Wimbledon quarter-final, Jabeur had yet to lose a set in her four rounds but faced adversity straightaway.
The 23-year-old Czech read Jabeur’s drop shots well to neutralize her greatest weapon and was rewarded for her efforts with the breaks in the fifth and ninth games which gave her the first set.
Dropping a set seemed to wake the world no.2 up and the 27-year-old stepped up her aggression with flatter groundstrokes.
She broke her opponent three times in the second set to level the match.
Jabeur won eight straight games to jump into a 4-0 lead in the decider before the Czech halted the juggernaut with a break to get on board in the third set. However, it proved to be a minor hiccup for Jabeur who picked up another break in the next game and then held serve to love to seal the match on her first match-point.
In the semis for the first time at Wimbledon, Jabeur will have to face her friend Tatjana Maria for a chance to become the first player from Africa to win a grand slam.
103rd-ranked Tatjana Maria had earlier beaten fellow German Jule Niemeier 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
