Jabeur Relieved After Ending Five-Match Losing Skid In Stuttgart

Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur (photo: Porsche AG)

STUTTGART/WASHINGTON, April 18, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

Ons Jabeur knows well she can’t win a tournament in the first round but she can certainly lose it in the first round. Such was the case when she faced Ekaterina Alexandrova for the ninth time in her career at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix Wednesday afternoon.

The No. 7 seed from Tunisia struggled early inside Porsche Arena, trailed by a double break to the 16th-ranked Russian, and found herself having to play from behind. However, by the end of the two-hour Centre Court first-round match, Jabeur came on strong — and the crowd had her back.

Jabeur overcame a 4-2 deficit in the final set, pushed the match to a decisive tie-break and won it, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 (1), to advance to Thursday’s second round against No. 14 Jasmine Paolini of Italy.

“It definitely was a tough match-up [against Alexandrova] but I’m glad I got the win,” said the ninth-ranked Jabeur, who snapped a five-match losing streak with her victory over Alexandrova. “I’m very happy and thanks to the crowd, especially the Tunisian crowd, that is always there behind me.”

The loss dropped Alexandrova to 1-9 against Top-10 opponents on clay, while Jabeur improved to 3-6 overall. Her last win came at Abu Dhabi in February. Last year, she went 11-3 on clay, which included a semifinal finish in Stuttgart. Thus far, she’s 1-1 on clay in 2024.

“Tennis is a such a tough sport and it’s been a tough year for me,” Jabeur admitted after beating Alexandrova for just the third time in nine career meetings. “The beauty of tennis is her game really bothers me and my game bothers her.”

In the first match that Jabeur has won this season after coming back from losing the first set, she won 75 percent of his first-serve points, hit 16 winners, broke Alexandrova four times in five attempts, and contributed to the Russian making 38 unforced errors. She outpointed her opponent 91-87.

In her news conference, Jabeur told reporters, “I have thought about withdrawing from this tournament so many times because I couldn’t take another loss. You know, it was very, very difficult.”

Fortunately, Jabeur didn’t withdraw. Instead, she showed plenty of fight and fortitude in her victory.

“Sometimes, winning matches like this is like winning the tournament,” Jabeur said, smiling. “So, I will take it. I will take any win and I look forward to returning and playing on this beautiful court.”

Gauff goes the distance to beat Vickery

World No. 3 Coco Gauff remained unbeaten in five matches against fellow Americans this season after pulling out a 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 win over unheralded 134th-ranked qualifier Sachia Vickery in two hours and 27 minutes. It was the reigning US Open champion Gauff’s first foray onto clay this season, while Vickery won a pair of qualifying draw matches over the weekend and defeated No. 74 Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus in the opening round Monday.

Gauff overcame some rust that contributed to her serving 15 double faults and making 49 unforced errors. She hit 23 winners and benefited from 36 unforced errors by her opponent. Gauff, who recovered from being 2-4 down in the third set, outpointed Vickery 108-94.

In her in-court interview, Gauff said of Vickery: “She gets a lot of balls back and I was just trying to be patient and also be aggressive. I think I got passive. She played well and I think I did a good job of staying in the match.”

Gauff added: “That was very hard work. Strangely here in Stuttgart, I always have difficulties finding my touch. I’m all the more happy that I have another opportunity to play my best tennis.”

Next, Gauff (19-5 this season), who is through to the quarterfinals at Stuttgart for the first time in her third appearance, will face either No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen of China or No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who play Thursday evening.

In match-up of Porsche Brand Ambassadors, Raducanu triumphs over Kerber

Less than a week after anchoring Great Britain’s 3-1 upset of France in Billie Jean King Cup competition, Emma Raducanu eased past two-time former Stuttgart champion Angelique Kerber, 6-2, 6-1, in their first meeting in a featured match-up of wild cards and Porsche Brand Ambassadors Wednesday evening.

It was Kerber’s 11th Stuttgart main-draw appearance – and first since 2022 – and, it was her first match in Germany since giving birth to her daughter, Liana, early last year.

“It feels great progressing here, especially against such an experienced player like Angelique Kerber,” said the 21-year-old Briton. “I came up with the goods in the important moments. Thanks to my thorough preparations, I’m feeling really good and am playing some very good tennis.”

Raducanu kept the 332nd-ranked Kerber from a 17th career Stuttgart victory by hitting 26 winners to 11 unforced errors and taking advantage of the 29 unforced errors by the former World No. 1.

“I naturally envisaged my return to Stuttgart a little bit differently,” Kerber said after the match. “I’m currently not top fit and didn’t have a chance to prepare for clay. Despite encouraging signs, it just wasn’t enough. I’ll now recuperate and come back firing.”

The win advanced the 303rd-ranked Raducanu to a Thursday night second-round match against No. 31 Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic. A win over the 19-year-old Czech teenager would advance Raducanu into her second Stuttgart quarterfinal and first since 2022 in her debut at Porsche Arena.

Three unseeded teams advance in doubles

With three of the four seeded doubles teams already eliminated, the completion of the first round on Wednesday offered the chance for three unseeded teams to advance to the quarterfinal round.

Advancing were: Bethanie Mattek-Sands of the United States and Zhang Shuai of China, who defeated Chinese pair Guo Hanyu and Jiang Xinyu, 6-0, 6-3; Hao-Ching Chan of Taiwan and Veronika Kudermetova of Russia, who beat Giuliana Olmos of Mexico and Alexandra Panova of Russia, 6-2, 6-2; and Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway and Ingrid Neel of Estonia, who held on to defeat Italian duo Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, 6-4, 1-6, 10-6.

All four doubles quarterfinals are on the schedule for Thursday.

Around the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Unseeded Marta Kostyuk took the scenic route to beat German wild card Laura Siegemund, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4, in three hours and nine minutes. The 27th-ranked Ukrainian was serving for the match, ahead 5-4 in the second set, when she was broken. Then, she served for the match at 6-5 and was broken, again. Siegemund, the 2017 Stuttgart champion and a seven-time main-draw competitor, took advantage both opportunities to force a deciding set after winning the second set in a tie break.

However, Kostyuk recovered in the final set to win for the 16th time this season in 22 matches and advanced to Thursday’s second round against No. 5 seed Zheng Qinwen of China. She overcame seven breaks of her serve and converted nine of 18 break-point chances against the 84th-ranked Siegemund. Kostyuk outpointed her opponent 124-120.

In a match-up of unseeded Russians, No. 36 Anastasia Potapova went the distance to upset No. 17 Liudmila Samsonova, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in two hours and 27 minutes. Potapova converted six of 13 break points and outpointed Samsonova 100-95 to move into the second round against World No. 8 and sixth seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

In the final match of the day between World No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus and the former No. 2 Paula Badosa of Spain — best of friends off the court — it was Sabalenka who advanced to the quarterfinal round following Badosa’s forced retirement, after injuring her left thigh earlier during the two-hour and 21-minute match. The final score line reflected Sabalenka ahead, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 3-3.

The two met at the net and shared a tearful hug at 1:10 a.m., and as Badosa hobbled off the court, she was clearly fighting back tears of disappointment.

Only four points separated the combatants with Sabalenka ahead 100-96. She finished with 40 winners to 23 for Badosa.

“It’s not the kind of end one would wish for, especially as everything was so close at the end,” said Sabalenka, who after three runner-up finishes would love nothing better than to leave Stuttgart with the winner’s car, a Porsche Taycan 4S Sport Turismo.

Sabalenka awaits the winner of Thursday’s second-round match between No. 6 seed Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic and No. 36 Anastasia Potapova of Russia.

By the numbers

“Quotable …”

“Yeah, that’s a heartbreaker, of course (smiling). But although obviously I’m really disappointed now, with this kind of performance to go out first round, it’s just tough.

“But after the first disappointment, I have to say I’m really proud of myself. I mean, I played a great match, not at all times, but I found solutions in the second set, and in the third it was really a top match.

“After what I have been through with the travel and how much I have played and all that, I have to be really proud of myself. I had a great performance.

“Then for a few points it wasn’t enough, but yeah, I think I showed some great tennis.”

— Laura Siegemund, from her post-match news conference, following her three-hour three-set loss to Marta Kostyuk.

Wednesday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix results

Thursday’s Porsche Tennis Grand Prix order of play

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