MADRID
\nOns Jabeur says she is hungry for more success after she claimed the biggest title of her career, becoming the first Arab or African player to win a WTA 1000 title thanks to a 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 victory over American Jessica Pegula on Saturday in Madrid.
\nThe Tunisian trailblazer picked up her second WTA trophy and is set to return to her career-high ranking of number seven in the world on Monday.
\nJabeur, who is the first Arab player (man or woman) to crack the top 10, owns a tour-leading 12 victories on clay so far this season and picked up a 20th win overall in 2022.
\n\u201cI honestly still can\u2019t believe it. I went through a roller coaster of emotions during the past few days, just after the semi-final. I was really stressed trying to breathe,\u201d said Jabeur, who had won just one of her previous five WTA finals.
\n\u201cI really didn\u2019t want to get disappointed again. I thought my heart was going out of my chest today. I\u2019m very happy and trying to realise that I won today really.\u201d
\npegula had to save four break points in her opening two service games before she upped the pressure on the Jabeur serve to break for 3-1.
\nThe Tunisian struck back in game seven, finding her range on the return and was soon on level terms with Pegula.
\nJabeur faced a set point in an error-strewn 10th game but weathered the storm to hold then broke Pegula to love using a signature drop shot return. The world number 10 closed out the set on the 54-minute mark.
\nPegula was in trouble at the start of the second set, but she swatted away three break points and it was her turn to attack as she swept the next six games in under 30 minutes.
\nThe first three games of the decider went against serve until Jabeur finally consolidated a break to inch ahead 3-1. The 27-year-old doubled her advantage and fell to her knees when she wrapped up a milestone victory.
\nJabeur improved to 2-4 in WTA finals and to 3-2 head-to-head against Pegula, who will rise to a career-high number 11 in the world on Monday.
\n\u201cI think for both of us, the last two weeks proved a lot. We\u2019ve come a long way from a few years ago, we were ranked 75 and 76, we were right next to each other. So that\u2019s pretty amazing,\u201d Pegula told Jabeur during the trophy ceremony.
\nThe 28-year-old American has shown great consistency at WTA 1000 tournaments, winning 28 matches at that level since the start of the 2021 season. Only one player has tallied more victories within that span at such events \u2013 world number one Iga Swiatek.
\nMeanwhile, Jabeur has already shifted her focus onto her next tournament in Rome, where she faces Romanian Sorana Cirstea in the opening round on Tuesday.
\n\u201cDefinitely all those matches I\u2019ve won on clay will give me a lot of confidence. I\u2019m just going to try to take as many (ranking) points as I can in Rome. I know I didn\u2019t play last year, so it\u2019s extra points for me,\u201d said Jabeur.
\n\u201cWhen you\u2019re confident like that and you win a lot of matches, I think I should take this opportunity to go, like, really forward and win.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID Ons Jabeur says she is hungry for more success after she claimed the biggest title of her career, becoming the first Arab or African player to win a WTA 1000 title thanks to a 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 victory over American Jessica Pegula on Saturday in Madrid. The Tunisian trailblazer picked up her second WTA […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-259381","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-sports"},"yoast_head":"\n