Second seed Ons Jabeur crashes out of Australian Open after being beaten by Marketa Vondrousova

ByEurosport

Updated 19/01/2023 at 16:22 GMT

Ons Jabeur is out of the Australian Open following a humbling defeat at the hands of Marketa Vondrousova. Jabeur struggled from the start and couldn't keep pace with her Czech opponent. The Tunisan was able to level but ultimately fell short to an inspired Vondrousova. Stream the 2023 Australian Open live on discovery+, the Eurosport app and at eurosport.co.uk

Vondrousova v Jabeur - Australian Open highlights

Marketa Vondrousova claimed a huge scalp at the Australian Open after knocking out second seed Ons Jabeur.

Vondousova was in inspired form against a lacklustre Jabeur, who racked up 18 unforced errors as she crumbled in the first set.

Her struggles looked to be continuing at the start of the second set as she found herself a break point down on her first service game but the Tunisian powered back to eventually level.

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However, the Czech stepped things up in the third and dominated to advance.

It was a tricky start to the contest for the second seed and conceded an early break to go 3-0 down against the spirited Czech player.

Despite staving off a break point to reduce the arrears at 3-1, Vondrousova won the next game to 15 and raced into a 5-1 lead when the Tunisian hit a forehand shot wide.

It left the world no.86 serving for the set and Jabeur’s hopes of winning a first-ever Grand Slam looked to be hanging by a thread.

Everything was unravelling very quickly for Jabeur, with the first set wrapped up in only 24 minutes after Vondrousova wrapped things up on her a second set point.

It proved to be the desired wake-up call for the Tunisian, and a terrific hold with an ace at 15-40 was enough to move 1-0 in front in the second set.

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 any hopes of another stunning upset at this Australian Open were curtailed for the time being at least.

After the Czech recovered to reduce the deficit back to two, Jabeur lost her serve for the third time in the match to leave the set finely poised at 4-3.

A fine forehand strike left the Tunisian serving for the set after moving 5-3 in front, but her anguish was clear to see after Vondrousova fought back again on her third break point to leave the Czech serving to level the set.

She did just that after Jabeur failed to take advantage of a set point, hitting a shot into the net and allowed the Czech to level the scores, finishing things off with her first ace of the match.

Vondrousova could not take advantage of another break to allow Jabeur to take a 6-5 lead, and she subsequently sealed the second set with a game to love.

It all started to unravel again for the second seed through, as Vondrousova moved 3-0 ahead in the decisive third set with Jabeur losing on her serve twice more.

That lead was extended further on her serve, before a superb drop shot left the 23-year-old serving for the match.

Jabeur in 'huge trouble' after losing first set

After Jabeur hit a shot wide, last year’s Wimbledon runner-up bowed out and gave the Czech an unforgettable match which finished just over 1am on Friday morning.

Speaking after the victory, she said: “I think she got better in the second set and played some amazing points. I just tried to stay focused, play my game and I’m very happy to beat her.

“It’s always tough to come back after such a long time, but I just started again in November and I felt good. I did some great practices and worked on my fitness a lot when I hurt the wrist.

“I am very happy to be back at this level and that I can play these matches.”

Vondrousova’s focus is now on a third-round match against 17-year-old compatriot Linda Fruhvirtova on Saturday.

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