Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab woman to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur is making history on a regular basis when she wins on the tennis court these days. On Friday, Jabeur became the first Arab woman to ever reach the fourth round of Wimbledon according to Howard Fendrich of the Associated Press, when she upset the 11th-ranked Garbine Muguruza of Spain, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2. Muguruza has won Wimbledon in the past, as she defeated Venus Williams of the United States 7-5, 6-0 in the 2017 final.

In Jabeur’s win over Muguruza, she overcame a visible stomach flu which reminded the tennis world of Pete Sampras’s memorable five-set win over Alex Corretja in the quarterfinals of the 1996 United States Open. However in the era of coronavirus, any sign of physical illness cannot be taken lightly.

This has already been a memorable year for Jabeur. She defeated Daria Kasatkina of Russia 7-5, 6-4 in the final of Birmingham. In the process, she became the first Arabic player ever to win a WTA Tournament. At the 2020 Australian Open, Jabeur became the Arabic player to reach a grand slam quarterfinal. 

Leading up to Wimbledon, Jabeur was one of five players to win a women’s grass court tournament. The others were Johanna Konta of Great Britain (Nottingham), Liudmila Samsonova of Russia (Berlin), 2017 French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia (Eastbourne), and three-time major champion Angelique Kerber of Germany (Bad Homburg). Of the five, only Konta is not left, and that is because she did not enter Wimbledon due to the fact she was in close contact to someone who had coronavirus.

Jabeur will now have another tough test in round four on Monday. She will be up against 2020 French Open champion Iga Swiatek of Poland.

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