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Tennis: Ons Jabeur sweeps into second round of Eastbourne International

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia picked up her first grass-court win of this season after defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the Eastbourne International, here on Tuesday.

Tennis: Ons Jabeur sweeps into second round of Eastbourne International

Tennis: Ons Jabeur sweeps into second round of Eastbourne International (photo:IANS)

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia picked up her first grass-court win of this season after defeating Italy’s Jasmine Paolini 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round of the Eastbourne International, here on Tuesday.

Jabeur picked up her second win in two meetings with 42nd-ranked Paolini, and she moved into the Eastbourne second round for the third time in her career.

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The Tunisian started her 2023 grass season last week in Berlin, where she suffered an opening-round loss to Jule Niemeier as the defending champion.

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Last year’s Wimbledon finalist Jabeur is seeking her third career grass-court singles title. Her first WTA singles title came on grass, at 2021 Birmingham, and she added a second grass-court title to her resume last year in Berlin.

Last week’s Birmingham champion Jelena Ostapenko is a possible quarterfinal opponent for Jabeur. Latvia’s Ostapenko kept her winning streak going with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Czech lucky loser Barbora Strycova in the Eastbourne first round.

In other action, No.8 seed Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil was also a first-round victor on Tuesday, squeaking past last year’s Wimbledon quarterfinalist Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) in 2 hours and 35 minutes.

Haddad Maia, who won her first two WTA singles titles last year on the grass courts of Nottingham and Birmingham, collected her first grass-court win of the 2023 season on Tuesday.

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