US Open: Jabeur was down a break at 2-3 in the third set, but she won the next four games in succession
Ons Jabeur and E Svitolina
Last year’s finalist Ons Jabeur of Tunisia pulled off another close call at this year’s US Open, staging a third-set comeback to hold off rising Czech teenager Linda Noskova 7-6(7), 4-6, 6-3 in a gripping second round encounter. Jabeur was down a break at 2-3 in the third set, but she won the next four games in succession, prevailing after 2 hours and 8 minutes of play on the Grandstand court.
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In other action, No.26 seed Elina Svitolina came from a set down to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 to enter the third round. Since returning to the tour in April after having her daughter, Skäi, Svitolina has played her best tennis at the majors.
Earlier this week, Jabeur valiantly fought against breathing difficulties to edge past Colombian youngster Camila Osorio 7-5, 7-6(4) to reach the women's singles second round. The 2022 runner-up, who turned 29 on Monday, defied breathing difficulties to edge Colombian youngster Camila Osorio just about put the icing on the cake for a belated birthday celebration with a gutsy performance inside Louis Armstrong Stadium.
Jabeur sprinkled in her trademark drop shots and looping lobs, changing the direction at will, to race 4-1 ahead.
The Tunisian will next play Czech Republic teenager Linda Noskova, who is a 6-2, 6-1 winner over Madison Brengle, on Thursday.
In a tight contest featuring some high drama, Alexandrova was able to seize the initiative to win the match 7-6(4), 5-7, 6-4.
In other first-round matches on Day 2, Katie Boulter of the United Kingdom defeated Diane Parry of France 6-4, 6-0 while Maria Tatjana of Germany went down to Petra Martic of Croatia 6-2, 6-1.
In other matches of the day, former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev hardly broke any sweat in defeating Hungarian Attila Balazs 6-1, 6-1, 6-0 to sail into the second round at the tournament on Tuesday. Interestingly, this was the third-seed Russian player's 50th tour-level win of the season.
Medvedev now holds a 24-5 record at the US Open, having earned more wins at the hard-court event than the three other majors (Australian Open 21, Wimbledon 13, Roland Garros 7). He will next take on the winner of an Australian match between Max Purcell and Christopher O'Connell.
(With agency inputs)
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