Ons Jabeur outlasts Jessica Pegula to clinch maiden WTA 1000 title at Madrid Open
May 08, 2022
Madrid [Spain], May 8 : Ons Jabeur of Tunisia clinched the Madrid Open title with a thrilling win over Jessica Pegula in a final clash on Saturday, to become the first Arab player to win a WTA Masters 1000 event.
Ons Jabeur overcame the American 7-5, 0-6, 6-2 in just under two hours.
The 27-year-old Jabeur survived both set points in the first set and a second-set bagel before making her way to a one hour and 54-minute victory over the American Pegula.
Jabeur had been in brilliant form at the claycourt tournament and the 27-year-old delivered a determined display against Pegula to end her journey in the Spanish capital on the perfect note.
The Tunisian player picked up her second WTA trophy and is set to return to her career-high ranking of number seven in the world.
Jabeur, who is the first Arab player -man or woman - to crack the top 10, possesses a tour-leading 12 triumphs on clay so far this season.
"[Pegula] was really good, putting a lot of pressure, playing kind of the game that I don't like. As soon as I was 30-0 down on my serve [in the last game], I was like, 'Of course, you want to make it tougher. Of course, you want to suffer here. You don't want to just finish an easy game," Ons Jabeur said in her post-match press conference.
"When I had the match point, I was like I had to win it from the beginning, otherwise it's going to be very tough for me. But I'm very happy and trying to realize that I won today, really," she added.
