Jabeur has lost to Kvitova four times, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory in Cincinnati the year before.
Western & Southern Open: Kvitova beats Jabeur to reach quarters (Picture Credits - IANS)
Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic defeated No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur in straight sets on Thursday, winning 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 to advance to the quarterfinals of the Western & Southern Open.
Jabeur has lost to Kvitova four times, including a 6-1, 6-2 victory in Cincinnati the year before. This was the first match in the series to go to a deciding set, and she currently leads the overall head-to-head 4-1. Sydney was where Jabeur’s lone triumph this year occurred.
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The 32-year-old has now advanced to four Cincinnati quarterfinals with this victory. She made it to the last eight in 2021 and was a semifinalist in 2012 and 2018. Despite this, she had a winning rate of only 55% up until this week, which was the second-lowest of any WTA 1000 event, behind only Rome (50 percent). Jabeur is also the first member of the Top 10 that she has defeated in Cincinnati.
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Kvitova made a total of 31 winners, including five aces, compared to 43 unforced errors. The World No. 28 also produced some of her greatest returns on decisive occasions, hitting clean winners to break for 4-0 in the first set and for 5-0 in the third.
Jabeur made some crucial blunders in response to a string of deep, forceful returns. Only nine of the Tunisian’s unforced errors were wins.
Jabeur only connected on 35% of her first serves in the first set and gave up two double faults in her opening service game. This increased to 62% in the second set, which—combined with a decline in Kvitova’s performance—allowed Jabeur to tie the game. The Wimbledon finalist, who expressed vociferous dissatisfaction with her performance throughout, however, abruptly lost steam in the finale.
Jabeur was still able to come up with a few of her signature hot shots, though.
She gained momentum in the match thanks to a whipped forehand pass in the second game of the second set. She then reached set point with a spectacular sliced backhand passing shot while below the service line and with the ball falling below net height.
(Inputs from IANS)
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