Ons Jabeur

Jabeur took one hour and 31 minutes to overcome her stubborn opponent in the German capital, with the world number four triumphing 6-2 7-6 (10-8) to reach her eighth quarter-final of 2022 – each of which have been at WTA 500 level or higher.

The Tunisian will face Sasnovich for a semi-final spot next time out, with the Belarusian having won 26 matches so far this year (including qualifying draws). Only Iga Swiatek (42) and Beatriz Haddad Maia (29) have more victories so far this season on the WTA Tour.

The other seeds in action in Berlin on Thursday also progressed, with Coco Gauff overcoming Wang Xinyu 6-0 6-4 to tee up a clash with Karolina Pliskova, and Belinda Bencic downing Anna Kalinskaya 6-4 1-6 6-1.

Defending champion Ludmilla Samsonova, however, suffered a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 defeat to Veronika Kudermetova.

Meanwhile, the Birmingham Classic's top seed Jelena Ostapenko fell to a surprise 3-6 7-5 7-5 last-16 reverse against Ukraine's Dayana Yastremska, who reached her first ever grass-court quarter-final on the WTA tour.

The world number 79 will face Zhang Shuai for a spot in the final four after she fought her way to a 6-2 2-6 7-5 win over Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Third seed Camila Giorgi will join them in the last eight after recovering from losing her first set against American Lauren Davis to secure a 3-6 7-5 6-2 win.

Jabeur won for an 11th straight time as she defeated Kasatkina 6-4 1-6 7-5 in the semi-finals of the Internazionali d'Italia on Saturday.

Her victory sets up a final against Swiatek, who extended her winning streak to 27 matches by defeating Aryna Sabalenka.

Jabeur, who won in the Spanish capital last week, is aiming to become the third player to win the Madrid and Rome titles in a single year. Dinara Safina in 2009 and Serena Williams in 2013 are the others to have managed that feat.

However, it would all have been different had Kasatkina converted her match point in the deciding set.

"It means a lot to me, especially mentally, that I could come back from a match point and prove that I did that today," Jabeur said.

"Hopefully I can keep being stronger mentally, because I know [the final] is all about mental [strength].

"I knew that physically I could handle anything. Believing that I could play even four weeks in a row, I can do it. I am exhausted, yes, but it's part of my job.

"It's going to help me push more. There is only one match left. I gave it all from the first round, now I should really continue giving my best."

Swiatek found matters rather more comfortable against Sabalenka, who she beat 6-2 6-1. The 20-year-old is in the hunt for a fourth title of 2022.

"At these tournaments where we play day after day, we don't really get time to celebrate," she told reporters.

"Right after we finish the previous match, we have to think about the next one.

"It's pretty tough. But I know that after I'm going to be really proud of myself. For sure I'm going to have time to think about what I did.

"I'm just constantly surprising myself that I can do better and better. I feel like I actually can believe now that the sky's the limit. That's the fun part, for sure."

In the last 25 years, only Serena Williams in 2013, Kim Clijsters in 2003 and Martina Hingis in 1998 have reached the final in Rome with fewer games dropped than Swiatek this season (17).

Jabeur endured an injury-hit start to 2023 but bounced back with a victory in Charleston and made it six wins on the bounce by overcoming Latvian Ostapenko 1-6 7-6 6-3 on Wednesday.

Next up for Jabeur is a potential quarter-final tie with Elena Rybakina – a rematch of last year's Wimbledon final.

Rybakina, who won the Indian Wells Open in March, came up trumps on that occasion, fighting back to win 3-6 6-2 6–2.

The Kazakh, seeded sixth, overcame German Jule Niemeier 7-5 6-3 in the round of 32 and will now face Beatriz Haddad Maia in the last 16.

World number two Aryna Sabalenka also booked her progression to the last eight, beating 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova 6-2 6-3.

Coco Gauff, meanwhile, claimed her first victory in Stuttgart as she overcame a tough test from Veronika Kudermetova.

Gauff, the world number five, was taken to a deciding tie-break but ultimately prevailed 6-2 4-6 7-6 (7-3). The American will face Anastasia Potapova in the next round.

Former world number one Karolina Pliskova defeated Maria Sakkari in straight sets in Wednesday's other encounter.

World number one Swiatek saw off Aryna Sabalenka in Saturday's other semi-final, and it is Tunisia's Jabeur who will meet her on Sunday.

Jabeur had to do things the hard way, saving a matchpoint in the deciding set before going on to prevail 6-4 1-6 7-5.

The victory is Jabeur's 11th in a row and sends the 27-year-old into her second final in the space of a week following her win in Madrid.

Jabeur started strong with an immediate break of serve, yet Kasatkina stubbornly fought back with two breaks of her own.

However, a slip up from the Russian at 3-1 up allowed Jabeur to drag herself back into the set before she broke again to win it.

The momentum swung the other way as Kasatkina dominated the second set to force a decider, in which Jabeur's steel was on full show as she sealed a fourth straight win over the world number 23 with a sublime drop-shot.

Jabeur has now won 17 matches on clay in 2022, more than any other player on the WTA Tour, while she is the first to reach three finals on dirt in the same season since Simona Halep did so in 2017.

Should she overcome Swiatek – who is herself on a remarkable 27-match winning run – Jabeur will become the third player to win the Madrid and Rome titles in a single year. Dinara Safina in 2009 and Serena Williams in 2013 are the others to have managed that feat.

Jabeur trailed a break in both sets but won in 109 minutes, aided by a three-hour rain delay at 5-3 down in the first frame allowing her to re-group.

The Tunisian had been a double break down at 4-1 in the first set, with Jabeur breaking Kasatkina when she served for the set at 5-2.

Jabeur's progress means she has reached her 11th WTA level final, this marking her first since the 2022 US Open which she lost to Iga Swiatek.

Jabeur lost last year's Charleston final to Belinda Bencic and the two may face off again in this year's decider, with the Swiss fourth seed leading top seed Jessica Pegula 7-5 6-6 (2-4) before rain forced their semi-final to be postponed until Sunday.

Bencic looked to have blown a 5-2 first-set lead, failing to serve out the opening frame before Pegula squared it up. But Bencic held serve, then broke Pegula to love to claim the lead.

There were breaks in the opening two games of the second set before it went to serve, until rain intervened with Pegula having a slight advantage in the tiebreaker.

Play will resume on Sunday not before 1:30pm local time, with the final scheduled for Sunday evening.

Second seed Tatjana Maria advanced to her second straight Copa Colsanitas final in Bogota, winning 6-3 6-4 over Briton Francesca Jones.

Maria will face either Peyton Stearns or Kamilla Rakhimova in Sunday's final.

Former world number one Halep was the only player to have won the competition to have reached the last eight, but she was no match for the Tunisian, who won 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour.

After a difficult start to the year, Jabeur has hit her stride in recent times and will be contesting a second semi-final in three tournaments.

While Jabeur caught the eye, particularly with her penchant for a dropshot, Halep proved to be her own worst enemy, recording 12 more unforced errors (20) than winners (eight).

Up next for Jabeur is qualifier Ekaterina Alexandrova, who beat 2019 French Open semi-finalist Amanda Anisimova 6-4 6-3 to reach her first WTA 1000 last-four clash.

Alexandrova has won six of her previous seven meetings with Jabeur.

Meanwhile, Anhelina Kalinina saw her impressive run ended by Jil Teichmann. The Ukrainian had seen off three major winners on the bounce in Sloane Stephens, Garbine Muguruza and Emma Raducanu, but she was beaten in straight sets this time.

Teichmann – who won 6-3 6-4 – will face Jessica Pegula for a place in the final, with the American eliminating Spain's final hope of a home winner in Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-4 6-2.

Tunisian Jabeur, who beat Olympic gold medallist Belinda Bencic and two-time grand slam winner Simona Halep to reach the semi-finals, needed just an hour and one minute to secure a routine last-four win over Ekaterina Alexandrova.

The world number 10 dominated her Russian opponent in a 6-2 6-3 win, before setting her sights on victory in what will be her sixth career final on the WTA Tour but first at such a high tier.

"I'm going to put a positive here. I want to win this final," Jabeur said after her win. "I'm going to put my heart, my favourite drop shot, my forehand in.

"I'm just going to really give my best. I don't want to regret [anything]. The main important thing for me, I know it's winning the title, but [also] knowing that I gave it all during the match and not regretting that. I know if this one [title] is not coming, then there is another one.

"I keep pushing myself to do better. The proof is that from Charleston [where Jabeur lost the final to Bencic last month], I worked really hard to be in the finals here. Like I said, I'm going to leave my heart on the court on Saturday."

Jabeur will face American Pegula in Saturday's final after she registered a 6-3 6-4 triumph over Switzerland's Jil Teichmann.

The 12th seed was tested when Teichmann fought back from a break down to 4-4 in the second set, with 28-year-old Pegula managing to dig deep to break once more and reach what is also her first WTA 1000 final.

Saturday's contest will represent just the fourth final of Pegula's career, and the first since losing to compatriot Serena Williams in straight sets at the 2020 Auckland Open, but she will enter the top 10 of the WTA rankings with a win.

"I knew I was close to the top 10, but it's so hard, you have to step up and do really well to win a tournament," Pegula said on court.

"I'm just so happy to be in the final, it's my first final in a 1000. I've been knocking on the door in the last few tournaments, [but] I was able to take care of business today."

Jabeur and Pegula have met on four previous occasions with each player boasting two victories each, Jabeur winning their last meeting at the last-16 stage of this year's Dubai Tennis Championships.

The three-time major runner-up took just 81 minutes to book her place in round two at Roland Garros, where she was a quarter-finalist 12 months ago.

A combination of injuries and inconsistent form meant Jabeur arrived in Paris with a 6-9 record for 2024, suffering a first-round exit to Sofia Kenin at the Italian Open last time out.

However, the eighth seed looked in fine fettle on Court Suzanne-Lenglen, with early breaks in both sets paving the way for a comfortable passage into round two at the expense of the American wildcard.

The most recent of her grand slam final defeats came last year at Wimbledon against Marketa Vondrousova, who was also a dominant winner in round one.

Runner-up to Ashleigh Barty in 2019, the fifth seed's quest to go one better five years later began with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Spain's Rebeka Masarova.

Data Debrief: Jabeur On it

Jabeur will not have known what to expect following a stop-start 2024 thus far. However, the Tunisian looked sharp as she won 23 out of 28 points on her first serve, as well as nine of 11 net points.

The eighth seed dominated her opponent with 30 winners to eight, while her drop shots (22-4) were also on point throughout the contest.

The win sees Jabeur rise to a career-high of number three in the world as the Tunisian – who was winning  6-3 2-1 when Bencic succumbed to an ankle injury – capitalised on her top seed position for the tournament.

With Jabeur on serve to clinch the first set, Bencic rolled her ankle and required treatment in a three-minute medical timeout – with Jabeur swiftly nosing herself ahead on the restart with an ace.

Olympic gold medallist Bencic pushed to continue but came to the net to retire when trailing 2-1 in the second set, taking Jabeur's tally of wins in 2022 to 30, a total that is only bettered by world number one Iga Swiatek.

Victory marked Jabeur's second title of 2022, with the 27-year-old having previously won the Madrid Open.

Jabeur had plenty of support from the crowd throughout the tournament, and said: "I cannot forget how amazing the crowd is, Tunisians are amazing, thank you for coming. I hope I can come back next year, it's been great to come back to Berlin."

Bencic paid tribute to her opponent following the game, saying: "You deserve this title, I really don't want to take this moment away from you because I think you played incredible tennis.

"This is the best tennis of your life, so I hope you continue. You gave me a really hard time, maybe it was one serve too much for me. This is your moment so I want you to enjoy it and focus on your title."

Jabeur continues her Wimbledon preparations at Eastbourne next week, competing in both the singles and doubles event – she will play alongside Serena Williams – while Bencic will be hoping to recover in time to feature in the season's third grand slam.

Most recently, she featured at the Canadian Open in Toronto where she lost in straight sets to Naomi Osaka in the first round.

The Tunisian has been struggling with injuries all season, seeing her miss the Paris Olympics and tournaments in Washington and Cincinnati.

And, just hours after the draw for the US Open was made, the world number 17 decided that her shoulder injury will not allow her to compete at Flushing Meadows.

"I am truly sad to announce that my shoulder won’t recover in time for the US Open. I feel I need to give 100 % and today it's not possible yet," Jabeur wrote on Instagram.

"Life has ups and downs, but sometimes in the very negative moments we all need to find the positive in it. This year has been very tough for me, but I know somewhere the light is there.

"Always grateful for the unconditional support you all bring to me."

The 29-year-old will be replaced in the draw by Elise Mertens, who will become the number 33 seed.

Jabeur achieved her best grand slam result at the US Open, reaching the final in 2022, but lost in straight sets to Iga Swiatek.

She also came agonisingly close to a major title in two further final appearances at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023.

Qualifier Varvara Gracheva earned her first career top-five win by beating 2022 Wimbledon and US Open finalist Jabeur 6-2 6-2 in only 67 minutes.

Fifth seed Caroline Garcia also crashed out, losing 6-2 6-3 to 74th-ranked Sorana Cirstea, having also recently beaten the Frenchwoman at Indian Wells.

Bianca Andreescu came from a set down to beat seventh seed Maria Sakkari 5-7 6-3 6-4 in a match that lasted over three hours.

Andreescu displayed some of the form that saw her lift the 2019 US Open title, fighting back from a set down and proving composed in the big moments.

The Canadian, who is ranked 31st, will take on 2020 Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin in the third round.

Second seed Aryna Sabalenka had few problems against Shelby Rogers, winning 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 17 minutes. Sabalenka will next face 31st seed Marie Bouzkova.

The 2023 Australian Open champion has won 65 main draw matches in WTA-1000 events, which equals Marion Bartoli and Ashleigh Barty at the 30th place since 2009 for the most wins at this level.

Indian Wells winner Elena Rybakina beat Anna Kalinskaya 7-5 4-6 6-3, and Petra Kvitova eased past compatriot Linda Noskova 6-3 6-0.

Ninth seed Belinda Bencic dropped just two games as she cruised past Leylah Fernandez 6-1 6-1, and will face Ekaterina Alexandrova next as the 18th seed needed three to get past Taylor Townsend.

Veronika Kudermetova was eliminated by Marketa Vondrousova 6-4 6-2, who goes up against Karolina Pliskova in round three after she eased past Wang Xinyu in straight sets.

The popular Tunisian could not overcome her nerves in a 6-4 6-4 loss to Marketa Vondrousova that made it back-to-back Wimbledon final losses.

A US Open final defeat to Iga Swiatek was sandwiched in between and Jabeur now joins an unwanted club of players who have lost their first three grand slam finals.

Like Andy Murray, it took Belgian Clijsters five attempts before she finally won one, and she shared tears with Jabeur in the locker room

“Just watching her in her interview and seeing the emotions afterwards, it brings back a lot of memories and thoughts of how you go about it,” said Belgian Clijsters.

“There’s no secret, it’s just trying to give yourself the opportunity to get to that stage again. The unfortunate thing is you cannot practise these things, you cannot practise being in a grand slam final, you can only do it within the occasion.

“The biggest thing she has to maybe learn is to fake it, fake it until you make it. You could see it really clearly that the negative emotions were taking over.

“If she missed a shot, there was the natural kind of reaction that was negative. When she made a great point, there was nothing a lot of the time. That just showed the doubt was overpowering everything.”

Clijsters lost twice in French Open finals and once each at the Australian Open and US Open before her maiden success in New York in 2005.

“It’s tough,” said the 40-year-old, who went on to win four major titles. “But there shouldn’t be any question in her mind about whether she can do it or not. She can beat all these players, there’s no doubt about that.

“For me the most disappointing is not so much the loss, it’s the fact that you weren’t able to bring your best tennis to the biggest occasion, and that’s the most frustrating and that’s why you start to worry – why am I not able to do it? Why am I so overwhelmed with emotions on the big stage?

“But it does feel good eventually when you get it. It’s definitely a process. I just know looking back I wasn’t ready to win and I’m very happy I didn’t win my first.”

Jabeur was grateful for Clijsters’ support and is encouraged that many other players have been through similar adversity before eventually getting their hands on a winners’ trophy.

“I love Kim so much,” said Jabeur. “She’s a great inspiration for me. I grew up watching her a bit. The fact that she takes the time to give me advice and to really hug me, always be there for me, I think it’s priceless.

“She was telling me all the time she lost four. That’s the positive out of it. You cannot force things. It wasn’t meant to be.”

Third seed Kontaveit, who won this competition last year, retired when a set down to Tereza Martincova, while world number seven Maria Sakkari was defeated 5-7 7-5 7-5 by 21-year-old American Alycia Parks in a big upset.

Parks lost the opener but found two crucial breaks of serve when 6-5 up in both the second and third sets to eliminate the fourth seed.

The withdrawal of Belinda Bencica – seeded sixth – with a foot injury put Barbora Krejcikova into the quarter-finals, while Ekaterina Alexandrova will also be in the last eight after overcoming fifth seed Daria Kasatkina 6-1 7-6 (7-1).

The tournament favourites were in much better form at the Jasmin Open in Tunisia, as the top two seeds sealed their places in the quarter-finals with straight-sets wins.

Favourite Ons Jabeur cruised to a 6-1 6-3 victory over Evgeniya Rodina, converting four of her seven break points to safely advance to the next round of her home tournament.

And number two seed Veronika Kudermetova eased past Magdalena Frech 6-3 6-4 to set up a quarter-final meeting with Diane Parry.

Jabeur was beaten 6-4 6-4 in the Wimbledon showpiece match by Marketa Vondrousova, who claimed her first grand slam and became the first ever unseeded champion at SW19.

The loss was Jabeur's second Wimbledon final defeat in as many years, with the Tunisian world number six still yet to win a grand slam despite reaching three finals in the last two years.

However, Majoli, who won the French Open in 1997 when she beat Martina Hingis in the final to deny her Swiss opponent the Grand Slam, is confident Jabeur will get over her recent disappointment by finally winning a major final.

"I think this loss was tough," Majoli told Stats Perform. "I'm sure everyone was expecting Ons [to win] and I love Ons.

"I think in the end there was maybe too much pressure on her. But from the beginning, I said that it was going to be a tough match.

"I think this loss was probably tougher than the one last year and I think she was expecting a lot from herself and I think she was expecting that she's going to win it. But life writes stories and it's not always how you expect.

"I think she will come back and I really wish she's going to win a slam because she deserves it."

Vondrousova's victory was historic, as she became the lowest-ranked player to win the Wimbledon ladies' title.

She also became the first unseeded woman to reach the final in 60 years.

Asked whether Vondrousova's unlikely triumph was a sign of strength or weakness in the women's game, Majoli replied: "There have been a lot of ups and downs, there have been a lot of wins and then disappearances and then wins again.

"But I think there is a strong young generation coming up. It was great to see Marketa Vondrousova winning.

"Marketa being a lefty is very dangerous. She was playing amazingly the whole tournament. And I always think the left-handers are a danger, like Petra Kvitova. So I would love to see them doing much, much better in the tournaments and in the rankings."

Sakkari needed only 69 minutes for the straight-sets win, making it her third straight-sets triumph in the Nancy Richey Group after also blowing past Aryna Sabalenka and Jessica Pegula.

Greece's Sakkari took advantage of some wastefulness from Jabeur, with the Tunisian posting 19 unforced errors with just eight errors. Her efficiency did not improve in the second set, managing only three winners with 12 unforced errors.

Sakkari's serve was a weapon throughout, landing 70 per cent of her first-serves fair and converting 82 per cent of those chances (27-of-33) into points.

Jabeur could have advanced through to the next round with a win, but instead Aryna Sabalenka will advance with Sakkari out of the Nancy Richey Group.

The only other player yet to lose a set in the tournament is Iga Swiatek in the Tracy Austin Group – who has only played two matches so far.

WINNERS/UNFORCED ERRORS

Sakkari - 11/10

Jabeur - 11/31

ACES/DOUBLE FAULTS

Sakkari - 2/2

Jabeur - 0/3

BREAK POINTS WON

Sakkari - 4/7

Jabeur - 1/2

The 16-year-old was devastated to lose in the girls’ singles final last year but quickly made an impression in the senior game with runs to the third round of the French Open and the fourth round of Wimbledon.

Andreeva counts Jabeur as her idol but she was utterly ruthless under the roof on Rod Laver Arena, defeating the sixth seed and two-time Wimbledon finalist 6-0 6-2 in just 54 minutes.

Jabeur could only smile in astonishment at some of the shots Andreeva played, while she celebrated like an underdog when she finally won a game at the start of the second set.

She was unable to stall Andreeva for long, though, with the young Russian branding it the best match she has played.

“In the first set I played really amazing tennis, I didn’t expect that from myself,” said the teenager.

“I’m happy I played with Ons. It was one of my dreams to play against her, because I really like the way she plays. It meant a lot, this match that I won.

“She’s so nice. Now, after the match, she came to me, she wished me luck. I just know that she is who she is and she never changes.”

Andreeva is projected to rise inside the top 35 as a result of her run here despite being severely restricted in how many tournaments she can play because of her age.

She is trying not to be in too much of a hurry, saying: “I don’t think that I achieve something incredible, so I have time still to do that. Sometimes when I’m lying in bed, I can overthink a little bit, but the next morning I’m totally fine.

“I’m 16. Why do I have to think about the rankings? I’m going a bit higher, and so my goal is to go higher and higher. I just try not to think about that and just to think about tennis.”

Another young Russian making waves in Melbourne is 20-year-old qualifier Maria Timofeeva, who is playing in the main draw of a grand slam for the first time and ended former champion Caroline Wozniacki’s comeback.

The Dane retired here four years ago and is back with her two young children in tow but she could not build on a strong start, losing 1-6 6-4 6-1.

Wozniacki has other responsibilities now but she could not hide her disappointment, saying: “I would like to say that in my mind I can just kind of brush it under the carpet but it sucks just as much.

“Losing now and losing back then, it doesn’t really change. As a competitor, you want to win everything. When you have the family here and you bring everyone, you want to win even more because you want to stay longer and not have to move around.

“I felt like this was my match to win, and I didn’t.”

The Tunisian sixth seed, last year’s runner-up, won 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-3 to the delight of the Centre Court crowd, and likely to the relief of the All England Club and Buckingham Palace.

Sabalenka, banned from Wimbledon last year over the role of Belarus in the war in Ukraine, was a point from going a set and 5-3 up.

But Jabeur’s rousing comeback spared Wimbledon chiefs the uncomfortable situation of the Princess of Wales handing a trophy to, and shaking hands with, a player from Russia’s allied nation Belarus in the women’s final.

Instead of a politically-charged clash between Sabalenka and Ukrainian Elina Svitolina, Centre Court will host Jabeur against Czech Marketa Vondrousova on Saturday.

Jabeur was devastated after losing to Elina Rybakina in last year’s final, but believes she is a different player 12 months on.

She said: “I’m working a lot with my mental coach who’s been helping me a lot and I might be writing a book about it.

“I’m very proud of me, the old me maybe would have lost that match but I’m glad I kept digging deep and finding the strength.

“I’m learning to transform bad energy into good energy. After the anger of the first set I just tried to stay focused. I’m accepting it, digging deep to go and win this match, and hopefully this tournament.”

Jabeur led the first-set tie-break but dumped a backhand into the net and then sent a forehand long as Sabalenka forged ahead.

She seemed set to capitulate at 2-2 in the second, slipping to 0-40 before a double fault put Sabalenka in control.

But Sabalenka tightened up horribly and a double-fault gave Jabeur break point which she converted for 4-4.

With the Centre Court crowd right behind her, Jabeur somehow saved a break point by staying in a ridiculous rally until Sabalenka smashed a forehand wide, and then levelled the match with an unstoppable return on to the baseline.

The 28-year-old piled the pressure on the Sabalenka serve and won a nerve-jangling game with a third break point to go 4-2 up in the decider.

Sabalenka saved two match points on serve but Jabeur finished the job behind her own with an ace before raising her arms in triumph.

The sixth seed, who also lost to Iga Swiatek in the US Open final last year, will take on second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the last four after fighting from a set down to defeat Rybakina 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-1.

Jabeur missed a set point in the opener but fought back impressively, hitting more winners and making fewer errors than her opponent, who has established a fledgling big three in the women’s game this season with Sabalenka and Swiatek.

Jabeur left it to her coach to analyse last year’s match, where she led by a set before Rybakina fought back.

“I couldn’t watch it,” she said. “Very, very difficult. Until this day, I couldn’t watch this match. I can watch today’s match. That’s OK.

“Even watching the Netflix (documentary) show was painful. If I watch the whole match, it would have been terrible.”

Jabeur certainly exorcised last year’s demons, coping much better with the pace of Rybakina’s ball, but with the result came a sense of what if.

“I wish we could exchange this match for the final last year,” she said wistfully during her on-court interview.

Later in the press room, she added: “I believe last year maybe I wasn’t ready to play this kind of match. I don’t regret last year. It happened for a reason. It was meant to be this year. It was meant to be in the quarter-finals.

“I have learned a lot from the final last year. Definitely very proud of myself for the improvement that I did mentally, physically, and with the tennis racket.”

The Queen was among the interested watchers from the Royal Box as the pair took to Centre Court.

When not giggling at umpire Kader Nouni’s deep voice, the crowd were again largely behind the likeable and flamboyant Jabeur, whose game and demeanour contrast so strikingly with stone-faced Rybakina.

It was the Kazakh who made the first move with a break to lead 3-1 but Jabeur did what none of Rybakina’s opponents had managed since Shelby Rogers in her first set of the tournament by breaking straight back.

A lovely angled backhand pass gave Jabeur a 6-5 lead and she created a set point serving for it only for Rybakina to force a tie-break with a series of fierce backhands.

The reigning champion then went on to take it, and Jabeur’s frustration threatened to boil over when Rybakina’s big serve came to her rescue down 0-40 in the second game of the second set.

Jabeur is known for her creativity on the court but what was notable here was how she was able to match and even out-hit Rybakina from the back of the court, stepping in to break serve again to clinch the second set.

She was imperious in the third, with Rybakina struggling to find her first serve and ultimately well beaten.

Jabeur believes her show of power bodes well for taking on Australian Open champion Sabalenka next in what will be another big test.

“I think I’m hitting better,” said the 28-year-old. “I’m more confident in my shots. Serve-wise, I think it’s getting better. And it definitely needs to get better, especially playing players like her or Aryna.

“But most of all I think I was hitting fast. If you want to hit hard, I’m ready to hit hard, too.

“It’s going to be a very difficult match. Probably her shouting that way, me shouting this way. I’m going to try my best to stay focused and take every opportunity.”

Rybakina was left to rue a difficult day on serve but was proud of her efforts in defending a grand slam title for the first time.

“For sure she was making better decisions from the court than last year, I would say,” said the third seed.

“I also had a lot of opportunities this time, especially in the second set. I felt that my serve wasn’t that great. It’s my weapon and it was not working that well.

“It was kind of a new challenge for me coming as a defending champion. It’s of course a different feeling. Actually I’m really proud of the first few matches because it’s not easy.

“I would say that every match I played was a little bit better than the other one. I think, no matter the result of today, it was a positive few weeks for me here.”

The sixth seed, who also lost to Iga Swiatek in the US Open final last year, will take on second seed Aryna Sabalenka in the last four after fighting from a set down to defeat Rybakina 6-7 (5) 6-4 6-1.

Jabeur missed a set point in the opening set but fought back impressively, hitting more winners and making fewer errors than her opponent, who has established a fledgling big three in the women’s game this season with Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek.

The Queen was among the interested watchers from the Royal Box as the pair took to Centre Court.

They had not faced each other since last year’s final, where Jabeur took the first set before Rybakina fought back to win in three.

While not giggling at umpire Kader Nouni’s deep voice, the crowd were again largely behind the likeable and flamboyant Jabeur, whose game and demeanour contrast so strikingly with stone-faced Rybakina.

It was the Kazakh who made the first move with a break to lead 3-1 but Jabeur hit back immediately, breaking back to love.

The hard, flat hitting and ferocious serve of Rybakina made it hard for Jabeur to bring her tricks into play too often but a lovely angled backhand pass put her 6-5 ahead.

Rybakina, who was beaten by Sabalenka in the Australian Open final, had not dropped serve since the first set of the tournament so to break twice in a set was a notable achievement for Jabeur.

However, the sixth seed was unable to serve out the set, seeing a set point go begging as Rybakina engineered a break back with a series of searing backhands.

Both players looked to be feeling the occasion but it was Rybakina who handled her nerves better in the tie-break, helped by her most potent weapon.

The Rybakina serve also got her out of a hole down 0-1 0-40 in the second set, Jabeur’s frustration obvious as the break points were snatched away.

But the defending champion was powerless to stop Jabeur when she applied pressure at 5-4, the Tunisian leaping to put away a simple volley before bouncing to her chair.

When a second successive break of serve followed to start the deciding set, the crowd began to sense the finish line.

Jabeur was playing better and better, coping brilliantly with the power of Rybakina and hitting plenty of her own winners, particularly down the line.

A second break of serve, clinched with a precision backhand, gave her the chance to claim victory, and a Rybakina forehand into the net sealed the deal.

Jabeur, the sixth seed, was beaten in the showpiece match as Rybakina won her first grand slam title 12 months ago but she will be out for revenge when they meet in the last-eight on Wednesday.

She got there with a demolition of two-time champion Petra Kvitova on Centre Court, dishing out a 6-0 6-3 hammering in little over an hour.

The Tunisian brought her best game to the proceedings, delighting fans with drop shots, passing winners on the run and thunderbolts from the baseline as she made herself a real contender once again.

Kvitova, winner here in 2011 and 2014, was a shadow of her former self and struggled to cope with Jabeur’s variety, sending down 22 unforced errors.

“I don’t know who played today,” Jabeur joked. “It’s amazing, I love how Petra plays.

“I respect what she has done for women’s tennis, for me to be able to win against her is huge.

“(The quarter-final) will be a difficult match, I am going for my revenge, it was a difficult final last year, it is going to bring a lot of memories, I am hoping to play like today and get the win, it will be a difficult match.”

Rybakina will go into the rematch fresh after she was on court for just 21 minutes before her last-16 opponent Beatriz Haddad Maia retired through injury.

The Brazilian was enjoying her best run at Wimbledon, having never previously got past the second round, but hopes of a first quarter-final appearance were taken away from her when she suffered an injury early in the first set.

She had a lengthy medical timeout trailing 3-1 and tried to carry on but after being unable to move during a Rybakina service game it was clear that she could not continue.

She said: “I’m very upset now because I didn’t have the chance to, well, keep playing.

“Especially my first time on Centre Court here in Wimbledon, which is my favourite tournament.”

Aryna Sabalenka’s victory over Ekaterina Alexandrova ensured all of the women’s ‘big three’ made it to the last-eight.

The Belarusian is enjoying every minute of being back at this year’s tournament and did not waste much time in getting the better of the 21st seed, winning 6-4 6-0 on Court One.

She now plays Maddison Keys in the last-eight, in what will a mouth-watering encounter, and her eyes will be firmly fixed on a possible semi-final clash with Rybakina.

The first set was even and on serve until Sabalenka struck at 5-4 to take the lead and that gave her the platform for a dominant second set, which saw her bagel the Russian in 27 minutes.