January 19, (THEWILL) – Marketa Vondrousova pulled off a huge upset at the Australian Open on Thursday, knocking out second seed Ons Jabeur, in a thrilling three-set match.
Vondrousova dominated the first set, winning 6-1, with Jabeur struggling with 18 unforced errors. Jabeur’s hopes of winning her first Grand Slam looked to be hanging by a thread as the first set was wrapped up in 24 minutes.
The second set proved to be a wake-up call for Jabeur, and she took a 1-0 lead. Vondrousova was able to level things up on her serve, but Jabeur raced then raced into a 4-1 lead, taking advantage of her second break point in the fourth game to move 3-1 in front. She then won the next game to love on her serve, and even though Vondrousova fought back and levelled the scores, Jabeur finished things off to take the second set.
It all started to unravel again for Jabeur in the third set, as Vondrousova moved 3-0 ahead with Jabeur losing on her serve twice more. Vondrousova extended her lead further on her serve before a superb drop shot left the 23-year-old serving for the match.
After Jabeur hit a shot wide, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up bowed out, giving Vondrousova an unforgettable match, which finished just over 1am on Friday, in Australia.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.