LONDON —
Ons Jabeur became the first Arab woman to win a
WTA title on
Sunday when the Tunisian beat Daria Kasatkina of Russia 7-5, 6-4 in an
engrossing hour and a half tussle in Birmingham.
اضافة اعلان
Jabeur, the second seed, gained a measure of revenge as she secured her
first title at the expense of Kasatkina, one of two women to have beaten her in
her previous finals appearances.
Jabeur, ranked 24 in the world, has been in fine form this season where she
ranks alongside former world number one Ashleigh Barty in terms of matches (28)
won.
The 26-year-old held her nerve despite Kasatkina breaking back when
Jabeur served for the first set at 5-4.
Jabeur, though, broke world number 35 Kasatkina immediately and this time
she made no mistake in serving to win the set.
Kasatkina had beaten Jabeur twice in three-set affairs.
However, her opponent did not give her a sniff of a chance of a repeat of
forcing her into a decider as she raced into a 4-0 lead in the second set.
Kasatkina, winner of two titles this season, fought her way back to 4-3 down
but the Tunisian remained focused, sealing the title on her first match point
when the Russian netted.
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