Ons Jabeur won her fifth WTA tour title and second in 2023 and first on a hard court with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Diana Shnaider at the Ningbo Open.
After the R3 loss to Martina Trevisan in Guadalajara last week, the world No. 7 accepted a last minute wildcard into the WTA 250 event. Tunisian’s win keep her just ahead of Maria Sakkari in the race for the finals after the Greek was knocked out of the semi in Tokyo. Jabeur’s last title came on green clay in Charleston earlier in April.
This championship match also marked Jabeur’s first appearance since her heartbreaking final loss to Marketa Vondrousova at the All England Club. The 29-year has now racked up on all three surfaces on the WTA tour while taking her title count to five. Her maiden title came on the lawns of Birmingham in 2021 followed by another grass title in 2022. She then won on clay in Madrid in 2021 and then in Charleston in April 2023 where she defeated Swiss Belinda Bencic in straight sets.
The North-African is now aiming to get into position where she finally translate the previous success into winning her first major.
“These are little steps to winning a Grand Slam final,” Jabeur said after the title win.
“Playing a final here is more relaxed than playing a Grand Slam final, but I think it will help me gain confidence more, and to help me manage the pressure and stress.
“I think [Shnaider] is a terrific player and she really gave me a hard time. I know the score is 2 and 1, but it was more difficult than you see it.
“She has a lot of potential — her game is really solid so I really expect to see her bothering other players,” Jabeur said.
“It was funny and cute that she shared the story of the Moscow final a few years back, where she first saw me playing. When I met her at the French Open this year, she told me about it.
“I felt more solid [than in previous matches], I felt tactically I played very well, I had an advantage in that I had more experience than her to manage certain points.”
Jabeur may be in a good position to go for Grand Slams but she has lost all three major finals with losses against Elena Rybakina and Vondrousova at Wimbledon and Iga Swiatek at the 2022 US Open. Her biggest career win to date came at the Madrid Open as he overcame Jessica Pegula in three sets (7-5, 0-6, 6-2) to earn her maiden masters 1000 crown.