Ons Jabeur continued her quest for a first grand slam title after edging past Elise Mertens into the quarterfinals of Wimbledon.
Hoping to avoid the same fate as World no.1 Iga Swiatek, Jabeur overcame the Belgian 7-6(9) 6-4 in a contest that swung both ways.
The world no.2 Tunisian is the only seed left in the bottom half of the women’s draw and has looked the likeliest to win the whole thing after reaching the last eight without dropping a set.
If she wins Wimbledon, she will become the first African to win a grand slam ever.
However, Mertens proved to be more than a pushover during the pair’s meeting as she twice came back from a break down in the first set and earned five set points during the marathon tiebreak.
But once Jabeur got a hold of her opportunities she raised her game in the second and wrapped up the win.
The 27-year-old will next meet 66th-ranked Czech challenger Marie Bouzkova as the Tunisian targets a place in the semi-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Marie Bouzková joins Ons Jabeur in the quarterfinals of Wimbledon after ending an 8-match grass-court win streak of Caroline Garcia 7-5 6-2.
A bigger surprise in the women’s draw was the ouster of Jelena Ostapenko at the hands of Tatjana Maria.
Tatjana Maria fought from a set down and two match points to beat former French Open champion 5-7 7-5 7-5 to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam for the first time.
Her dream run at this tournament includes a win over 5th seed Maria Sakkari as well which may help her topple her next opponent Jule Niemeier who eliminated home favorite Heather Watson 6-2, 6-4.
