Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur continued racking up wins in her breakthrough year after she defeated the defending champion Madison Keys on Monday to progress to the Round of 16 at the Cincinnati Masters.
Jabeur won in straight sets 6-4, 6-1 in just under one hour in a game in which she won 86 percent of her first serve points and never faced a break point. She also hit 14 winners and made 17 unforced errors, nearly half of what Keys made (29).
Jabeur’s win against Keys, a former US Open finalist, was her fourth win against a top 20 player this year. Her other scalps were: Briton Johanna Konta, American Alison Riske and Czech Karolina Pliskova.
After the match, Jabeur said it was a really good match for her and she served really well.
“So I really wanted to not waste anything. I didn’t give her the chance to get her rhythm back. I know it was very difficult as a first match for her – luckily I played before,” Jabeur told wtatennis.com.
Jabeur, ranked a career high at 39, will next face American Christina McHale in her next match.
“I’m just going to recover right now and hopefully I can be ready for tomorrow. Christina is such a great player, so it’s going to be a difficult match. But I’ll be ready.”
