Top seed Ons Jabeur has fought her way into the final round of the lawn tennis tournament in Berlin.
The 27-year-old Tunisian defeated Alexandra Sasnovich 6-7 (3-7), 6-2, 6-2 in the last eight at the Steffi Graf Stadium after the Russian had beaten Andrea Petkovic in the round-robin. “Actually I have to win 6:2, 6:2. I’m glad I turned it around and stayed positive,” said the favourite.
Jabeur was on the winning track in the first set after breaking twice to go 5-2 up, but then lost her line and the first set in a tie-break. In the second set, Jabeur had to have the toes of her left foot taped, but then managed to play her game safely and confidently.
In the final round, Jabeur will meet Coco Gauff. The 18-year-old American had earlier defeated Czech number four Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4. Gauff, who was ranked three positions lower, had already fought off four set points at 4:5 in the first set. As in the first set, Gauff was 2-0 down in the second, but then fought her way back into the match and reached the semi-finals of a grass court tournament for the first time in her career.
Belinda Bencic and Maria Sakkari will meet in the second semi-final. The eighth seeded Olympic champion from Switzerland had to put up a lot of fight to reach the semi-finals when she defeated Russian Weronika Kudermetova 3-6, 6-3, 6-3. Greece’s Sakkari, the number two seed, was more confident, defeating Daria Kasatkina of Russia 6-0, 6-3.
