Jabeur credits mental strength for shaky victory over Parks in Berlin - "I'm glad I stayed calm"

Top seed Ons Jabeur withstood a late surge from qualifier Alycia Parks to reach the bett1 Open quarterfinals, her eighth quarterfinal of 2022, all at WTA 500 level or above.

The Tunisian star overcame a late comeback from the big-serving American to advance with a 6-2 7-6(8) victory, saving a set point in the second set to advance after an hour and 31 minutes.

"It was difficult to play with that low amount of rallies," admitted Jabeur. "Especially her serve is really fast, so I had to adapt my return. The second set, she started to play much better, and I had to take my chances when I had the break.

"It's tough, I should have taken my chances when I was serving in the tiebreak. I knew if it was gonna be 6-5 it would be really tough for me. But I'm glad I stayed calm afterwards."

Jabeur had defeated Parks 6-4, 6-0 in their only previous meeting, on the green clay of the 2021 Charleston WTA 250 event. However, the American's formidable serve made their grass-court rematch substantially closer, and Jabeur barely escaped being forced into a third set.

The Madrid Open champion will next face Aliaksandra Sasnovich as she bids to reach a fourth semifinal of the season.