Jabeur Seals Victory over Andreescu in Thrilling Three-Set Encounter at Wimbledon

Ons Jabeur defeated Bianca Andreescu in an exciting three-set match in the third round of Wimbledon.

Jabeur and Andreescu had one of the most intriguing matches of the day, featuring last year's Wimbledon finalist and a former US Open champion. It was a contest that could easily have been played in the later stages of the tournament.

The Tunisian player had not been tested too much by her previous opponents. Magdalena Frech (world No. 70) and Zhuoxuan Bai (world No. 191, a qualifier) failed to take a set off Jabeur, and she only faced one break point against her.

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On the other hand, Andreescu had been pushed to the limit in her previous rounds. She played three sets against Anna Bondar (6-3, 3-6, 6-2) and the 26th seed Anhelina Kalinina, winning in a final-set tiebreak 6-2, 4-6, 7-6(7).

In a closely contested match, the Canadian player took the advantage in the fourth game, converting her second break point. It turned out to be the only break of the set, allowing her to take a 6-3 lead. She showed great solidity in her service, winning 84% of her first-serve points and 63% of her second-serve points.

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Jabeur struggled a bit with her serve, complicating things for herself due to a low first-serve percentage (only 52% accuracy). However, when she did get her first serve in, she won 91% of the points.

The second set saw an improvement from Jabeur, who started to use her drop shots effectively. However, her first-serve percentage dropped even further (only 47%), although she still won the majority of those points (93%). Once again, it was a single break that made the difference, with Jabeur breaking in the sixth game to level the set score.

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A rain delay interrupted the match in the third set after both players had lost their serve once, with Andreescu leading 3-2. After a 50-minute break, Jabeur came back with renewed energy to hold her serve and level the set at 3-3. Just when it seemed like the former world No. 2 would take advantage of the break to surpass Andreescu, the Canadian player displayed her best tennis.

The athletes took the match to 4-4 in an exciting game, and with the pressure at its highest, Andreescu lost her service game, giving Jabeur the opportunity to finish the match on her own serve. The former world No. 2 did not succumb to the pressure and held her serve, securing her spot in the fourth round to face the 2-time Wimbledon champion and 9th seed, Petra Kvitova, who defeated one of the tournament's surprises, Serbian player Natalija Kostic.