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Ons Jabeur believes she can win a major title following her Wimbledon run to the final, having clinched a spot in the US Open semi-final with a straight-sets victory over Ajla Tomljanovic on Tuesday.
The world number five secured her spot in the last four in one hour and 41 minutes, winning 6-4 7-6 (7-4), having trailed 5-3 in the second set.
The win was Jabeur’s 43rd this season, trailing only world number one Iga Swiatek, and comes after she lost to Elena Rybakina in July’s Wimbledon decider, fueling her belief that she can secure a breakthrough grand slam title.
“I believe in myself after Wimbledon,” Jabeur said during her an on-court interview. “I know that I have it in me to win a [major] final. And here I am in the semi-finals.”
Jabeur had reached the quarter-finals at the 2020 Australian Open and 2021 Wimbledon Championships, with her recent runner-up finish proving a breakthrough.
“I think the fact that I broke that barrier of being in the quarter-finals all the time, that did help with my confidence,” she said.
“Knowing that I could make finals in grand slams really helped my game, just trying to build that experience to go into second weeks in grand slams.
“It was very tough coming here, you know, just the hard court season like wasn’t that great for me. So I was trying to build more and more confidence on hard courts.
“Wimbledon helped a lot, for sure.”
The 28-year-old Tunisian has made history several times, the latest being becoming the first African or Arab woman in the Open Era to reach the US Open semi-finals.
On a personal level, she has now also reached the second week in all four major tournaments across her career.
“I’m just trying to do my job here, hopefully I inspire more and more generations from Africa,” Jabeur said. “It really means a lot to me.”
