On the humid and windy afternoon of Wimbledon, the retractable roof of the Center Court stretched out, Ons Jabeur (28) fights against fate and against Aryna Sabalenka (25), the Belarusian who intends to storm the WTA lead but fails because she ends up sinking and surrendering (6-7 (5), 6-4 and 6-3).
Ons Jabeur is African, Tunisian, and by winning the semifinal she reissues her 2022 final, and seems like a quixotic figure in the current Europeanized tennis: alone she represents the world against Europe, since Europeans have been seven of the eight semifinalists in the tournament (between men and women) and there are no more Americans or Australians left, nor are the British who long for the best Andy Murray so much (this was not the Wimbledon of Cameron Norrie, semifinalist last year, this time lost in the second round).
Never before has an African tennis player scored a Grand Slam singles title, so Jabeur feels the weight of history, the same one that has condemned her at other times: two Grand Slam finals have escaped her, we’ll see what happens this Saturday .
The story pits her against Marketa Vondrousova, a Czech who has only won one WTA title (she also shows off her silver at the Tokyo 2020 Games) but who surprises Elina Svitolina, the Ukrainian mother who denies greetings to the Belarusian rivals, mother of the world that can no longer continue fighting against fate (before it has overcome checks against Azarenka and Swiatek; now it seems devastated) and yields by a double 6-3.
And the Ukraine-Belarus duel in a final in London?
Maybe next time.
