By Tony Fairbairn at Wimbledon
- Ons Jabeur [3] v Elena Rybakina [17]
- H2H: Jabeur leads 2-1
LONDON, ENGLAND – Ons Jabeur and Elena Rybakina will not only battle for the Women’s title on Saturday but will also look to claim their first Grand Slam title.
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Ons Jabeur [3] v Elena Rybakina [17] H2H & Match Fundamentals
Despite only facing one seed in the whole tournament so far, Ons Jabeur has had to overcome some stern tests in order to reach the final. However the Tunisian has played some incredibly innovative tennis and now looks to become the first African woman to win a Grand Slam title. In Jabeur’s way is Elena Rybakina who has taken advantage of an open section of the draw to reach her first Grand Slam final. Now Rybakina looks to become the first player from Kazakhstan to win a singles Grand Slam title.
| Ons Jabeur [3] v Elena Rybakina [17] | H2H: Jabeur leads 2-1 |
| Wimbledon | London, England |
| Grass (O) | Prize Money: £1,050,000/£2,000,000 |
| Centre Court (14:00 BST) | BBC Sport |
This is their first meeting on grass and two of their three previous meetings have gone to three sets.
Tale of the Tape – Key Stats (2022)
| H2H: | Ons Jabeur (WR 2) | Elena Rybakina (WR 23) |
| Tournament Previous Best | Quarter-Finalist (2021) | R4 (2021) |
| 1st Serve Return Points Won % | 40.9 | 35.9 |
| Return Points Won % | 46.6 | 42.2 |
| Break Point Conversion % | 50.9 | 38.1 |
| Break Point Saved % | 57.4 | 63.5 |
| Total Points Won % | 53.5 | 52.5 |
Jabeur has been more clinical on return in general with Rybakina being more effective on serve as two different styles of play collide for a place in Grand Slam history.
Playing Styles and Prediction
History awaits Jabeur having gone through her draw with ultimate efficiency as she has proved to be the player to beat over this grass court swing. Jabeur’s three set win over Tatjana Maria proved that she has the grit, shot selection and problem solving ability to be a Grand Slam champion as she looks to become the first African woman to win a Grand Slam title.
After reaching the final Jabeur told the press conference what things are needed to thrive and be successful on the tour:
“One of the things, obviously never give up, and believe always that you can do it,” Jabeur said.
“And be surrounded by the great people. I have a great team behind me. They always supported me. Even though sometimes – I’m not going to lie to you – I maybe thought I was never going to make it or never going to make a Grand Slam title or a Grand Slam final.
“But for me, I had to remind myself why did I start playing tennis, what kind of joy that tennis brings to me. As soon as I remind myself that, I get pumped, motivated to go, and play my next matches. One of the things that I hate is disappoint myself. I hope I will not do that. I’m all the way there. There is one match left, so hopefully I’ll give it all.”
Standing in Jabeur’s way is Rybakina who has played some aggressive and impressive tennis to reach her first Grand Slam final.
The Kazakh will look to become the first singles Grand Slam champion from her country and if she continues to produce the consistent power that she showed against Simona Halep then that dream could be a reality.
In her post-match press conference Rybakina admits she will be nervous in the final but is ready to give it her all ahead of a once in a lifetime opportunity:
“Of course I’m going to be nervous. Everybody probably nervous when they are going to play on Centre Court and if it’s a final,” Rybakina said.
“But it’s a challenge for me to be stable, to be strong mentally, and try to do my best. I know how Ons plays. She knows how I play. We know each other well. We see how it’s going to go. But, as I said, I’m going to try to do my best.”
Jabeur will look to dictate play with her serve and mix the tempo of the rallies between slice and big-hitting. While Rybakina will look to serve consistently well and produce the type of hitting that produced a flawless performance against Halep.
Nerves will play a factor for both players as this is their first Grand Slam final with both producing confident tennis, this could go either way. However if Jabeur can play the right shots at the right times and fend the wave of power from Rybakina then the title could be heading to Tunisia.
Prediction: Jabeur in three sets.
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