No.6 seed Ons Jabeur rallied for a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 win over No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka on Centre Court to book a place in her third career Grand Slam final and second straight at the Wimbledon, here on Thursday.
Jabeur is the first woman to reach back-to-back finals at Wimbledon since Serena Williams in 2018-19. Williams lost both of those matches, and Jabeur will seek to avoid that fate when she faces Czech left-hander Marketa Vondrousova in Saturday's final -- the first unseeded Wimbledon women's finalist in the Open Era.
For the second straight match at Wimbledon -- she also rallied from a set down in a rematch of the 2022 final to beat Elena Rybakina in the quarters -- Jabeur came from behind for a three-set victory, and with wins over Rybakina, Sabalenka and Petra Kvitova this fortnight, Jabeur is the first woman to defeat three Top 10 players at Wimbledon since Williams in 2012.
![Wimbledon: Jabeur Beats Sabalenka To Set Up Final Against Vondrousova Wimbledon: Jabeur Beats Sabalenka To Set Up Final Against Vondrousova](https://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/787352/wimbledon-jabeur-beats-sabalenka-set-final-against-vondrousova.jpg?h=450&l=50&t=40)
On the other hand, Vondrousova made a triumphant trip into her second career Grand Slam final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Elina Svitolina in the Wimbledon semifinals.
In the all-unseeded affair, Czech lefty Vondrousova took 1 hour and 15 minutes to defeat Ukraine's Svitolina, who was playing only her second Grand Slam event since her return from maternity leave in April.
![ATP Tour strips ranking points from Wimbledon over ban of Russian, Belarusian players. wimbledon](https://data1.ibtimes.co.in/en/full/773337/wimbledon.jpg?h=450&l=50&t=40)
The 24-year old Vondrousova had to fend off a second-set comeback by Svitolina to prevail and level their head-to-head at three wins apiece. Svitolina rebounded from 4-0 to 4-3 before Vondrousova regrouped to take the final two games of the match.
Both finalists -- Vondrousova and Jabeur -- are tied 3-3 in their overall head-to-head, but Vondrousova has beaten Jabeur in both of their meetings this year, at the Australian Open and Indian Wells.
(With inputs from IANS)