World No. 2 Ons Jabeur battles past Jessica Pegula to bounce back from opening defeat in Fort Worth WTA Finals

Updated 03/11/2022 at 14:23 GMT

Ons Jabeur delivered the perfect response to beat Jessica Pegula 1-6 6-3 6-3 at the WTA Finals, and bounce back from her opening defeat to Aryna Sabalenka. The world No. 2 conceded the first set before producing a stunning display to roar back into the match and claim victory. Jabeur became the first Tunisian player to win a match at the WTA Finals.

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Ons Jabeur beat Jessica Pegula 1-6 6-3 6-3 in sensational style to win her first game at the WTA Finals in Fort Worth.

The Tunisian lost her opening match to Aryna Sabalenka, and after falling a set behind in her second tie against Pegula, gave a great response to claw her way back into the contest.

Pegula, who also lost her first match in a hotly contested dual with Maria Sakkari, posted a dominant opening set on the board as Jabeur headed for a second successive defeat.

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The pressure didn’t seem to phase the Wimbledon runner-up, who dug deep as her quality finally began to shine through.

She went on to win the following two sets to make history, and become the first Tunisian to win a match at the WTA Finals.

Later in the day, Maria Sakkari charged into the semi-finals with a routine 6-2 6-4 win over Aryna Sabalenka 6-2 6-4.

Sakkari followed up her victory over Jessica Pegula with another impressive display, and the No. 5 seed was pleased with her aggression against the No. 7 seed.

"If you’re not aggressive on this court, then it’s just game over," Sakkari said afterwards.

"If I was passive, especially against [Sabalenka], the biggest hitter on the tour, then it’s just bye-bye. I just went for it. If I’m not going to go for it here, when am I going to do it?

"It’s been a long time since I’ve had straight-sets wins against these players, so it feels very new again for me.

“Being able to win [against] these players in straight sets, it’s impressive, and it’s finally paying off."

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