Ons Jabeur stored her composure late, overcoming Leylah Annie Fernandez 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 in 2 hours and 24 minutes to advance to the spherical of 16 on the Madrid Open.
In a showdown of two seeded opponents and former Grand Slam finalists, it was the veteran Tunisian and world quantity 9 who bought the higher of her 21-year-old opponent.
Initially, it was a robust begin to the match for the Canadian.
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Fernandez opened rapidly by breaking the three-time Grand Slam finalist and raced out to a 3-0 lead. The artful Tunisian responded, mixing in delicate angles, and enhancing her depth of shot to get again on serve at 3-3.
The gamers stayed on serve till Jabeur finally utilized extra stress within the late levels of the opening set, getting a pivotal break at 5-all as Fernandez dedicated a foot fault to drop her serve.
She would shut out issues on serve, seizing the opener 7-5.
The Montreal native bounced again within the second set, with a lot improved serving and consistency.
She made the primary notable transfer on the scoreboard within the sixth recreation, breaking for a 4-2 lead as Jabeur fired an unforced error into the online. The thirty second seed stayed aggressive and in management, closing with 4 consecutive video games to roll to the second set, 6-2.
Fernandez dedicated simply six unforced errors, whereas successful 19 of 26 factors on serve.
It set the stage for a compelling closing set.
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The Canadian saved an early break level likelihood within the opening recreation of the third, then broke to take a 2-0 lead; she rapidly relinquished the benefit as Jabeur continued to assault and punish her second serve. The 21-year-old from Montreal once more gained the higher hand, utilizing her forehand wing to construct a 4-2 edge.
Nevertheless, the Tunisian wouldn’t be denied. Jabeur closed in a flurry, rallying to win the ultimate 4 video games to take the 7-5, 2-6, 6-4 victory.
It’s the 29-year-old’s first time successful consecutive matches all season.
She’s going to face 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko within the spherical of 16.
