October 12, (THEWILL) – World number seven, Ons Jabeur, has withdrawn from the Zhengzhou Open ahead of her quarter-final match against Daria Kasatkina due to a knee injury she sustained during her hard-fought victory over Lucia Bronzetti on Thursday.
Playing with her right knee taped up, the Tunisian three-time Grand Slam finalist struggled to close out the match against the 63rd-ranked Italian Bronzetti, needing five match points to finally seal the 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) win. Shortly after the victory, the 29-year-old announced she had to pull out of the tournament, handing Kasatkina a walkover into the semifinals.
With the season-ending WTA Finals in Cancun starting on October 29, Jabeur now faces a race against time to be fit for the prestigious event she has qualified for the second year running. “I’m so sorry I have to withdraw as my knee is not feeling great. I love my time here in Zhengzhou and hopefully, I can come back next year,” said the fourth seed.
The opening set saw a combined five breaks of serve but Jabeur carved out a 5-2 lead before closing it out 6-3 after 45 minutes. She then earned a double-break in the second set and looked set for a smooth win when serving for the match at 5-2 up. However, Bronzetti snatched the next three games, breaking Jabeur twice to level at 5-5 and save a match point.
Jabeur finally sealed the 74-minute second set, and the match, on her fifth match point in the tie-break. Kasatkina also had to overcome a second-set comeback, needing four match points to beat 117th-ranked Bai Zhuoxuan 6-2, 6-4 in 90 minutes. She now moves into the semifinals to face either Barbora Krejcikova or Lesia Tsurenko.
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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.
