Tennis News: Ons Jabeur thrashes Madison Keys in San Jose
Wimbledon finalist and revolutionary tennis player Ons Jabeur started her Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic campaign with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Madison Keys. The third seed will face Veronika Kudermetova or Claire Liu in the quarter-finals
Ons Jabeur thrashes Madison KeysDespite not playing a single tournament after Wimbledon, she quickly gained momentum over Keys. She broke in the first game and took a 2-0 lead but promptly lost it to the 2017 champion Keys.
At 3-5, Jabeur responded by winning 10 of the next 11 games, wrapping up an 82-minute win. Jabeur secured seven winners to 12 unforced errors, while Keys hit eight winners to 22 unforced errors.
Interestingly, Keys couldn't shoot her vaunted serve past the World number five as the American was robbed of her ability to hit an ace. She was glad to be cradled among the Tunisian flags and all her supporters from Tunisia.
Many Arab and American fans also anticipated her tournament debut, much to her glee.
Paula Badosa wins a tight 3-setter in the second round
Second seed Badosa pulled herself back from 3-5 down in the third set to set up a win against American qualifier Elizabeth Mandlik, 6-2, 5-7, 7-6(5) in the second round.
Badosa managed to break Mandlik twice when the 21-year-old served to his disappointment as he lost the deciding tiebreak. The world number 240 Mandlik received a last-minute wildcard into qualifying.
She is the daughter of four-time Slam champion Hana Mandlikova, and Badosa was pulled into Mandlik's game. She wasn't expecting a score like that from a player of that rank, and the outcome made Badosa question her skills, considering the fight she went through.
She admitted that her opponent played an exceptional game. Badosa will encounter Coco Gauff or Naomi Osaka in the quarter-finals.
Daria Kasatkina makes the quarter-finals after defeating Townsend
Daria Kasatkina registered an easy straights sets win against Taylor Townsend 6-4, 6-0 on Wednesday evening. She has set up a match against the match winner between American Caroline Dolehide and Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka, which is yet to take place.
Russian Daria Kasatkina, the seventh seed, has reached the San Jose Open quarter-finals at San Jose State University Tennis Center. Before her last victory, the Russian secured a fantastic win against Kazakh Elena Rybakina 1-6, 6-2, 6-0.
The Wimbledon 2022 title holder played her first match since the day of her memorable victory at The All England Lawn Tennis Championships.
Townsend, now a mother, has returned on the Tour, as she recorded a first-round win against Australian qualifier Storm Sanders 6-1, 6-4 in San Jose.