Indian Wells: Ons Jabeur beats Magdalena Frech; Elena Rybakina battles past Sofia Kenin
Mar 12, 2023
California [US], March 12 : Ons Jabeur of Tunisia pulled off a come-from-behind winning in the second round of the ongoing Indian Wells Open, defeating Polish Magdalena Frech 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 on Stadium 1 on Saturday.
The No.4 seed Jabeur battled back from a set down before garnering the victory after one hour and 43 minutes of play.
Jabeur double faulted while serving with a 5-4 deficit after let a 40-0 advantage to slip away, giving Frech a set point. There, Jabeur's long backhand error allowed Frech to take the lead in the set.
As the game went on, Jabeur methodically regained her form. Jabeur took use of her opportunity to break Frech for a 5-4 lead after holding serve at love twice in a row to tie the match at 4-4 in the second set.
In the following game, Jabeur converted her first set point with the help of another error-forcing forehand while that wing was still firing. After that, Jabeur easily completed the third set after rediscovering her full magic.
"I'm an athlete and it's tough to stay out of competition for a long time. I was missing to be on the court. ... I was like, 'OK, I'm going to go and get prepared, even here and Miami, and see what's gonna happen," WTA.com quoted Jabeur as saying after her win.
"I just told myself to accept what's happening, to fight through it, and to just see how it goes. I'm sure it will get better and better every match," Jabeur said, thinking back to her one-set deficit.
Elsewhere, power prevailed in the pivotal moments as the No.10-seeded Elena Rybakina handled Sofia Kenin by the thinnest of margins, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5), to advance to Monday's third round.
"I was really happy I won in two sets. The conditions were difficult to day; it's very windy. She played really well in some moments. It went my way and I'm really happy. The big goal is to play really well in these really big tournaments here, for example, and the Grand Slams, of course. The goals are high, so I need to work a lot," Rybakina said in her on-court interview.
