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Ons Jabeur (L) of Tunisia celebrates with the trophy following victory alongside Jessica Pegula (R) of the United States who poses with the runners up trophy following the women's singles final at the Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, May 7, 2022. /CFP
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia won the Madrid Open on Saturday, securing her first WTA 1000 title and becoming the first Arab player to do so defeating Jessica Pegula of the United States 7-5, 0-6, 6-2
The eighth seed was already the first Arab woman to make it into the top 10 in professional tennis and the first Arab woman to win a WTA Tour singles title last year at Birmingham.
"Dreams do come true," she tweeted after her win. "Thank you Madrid, thank you to everyone who came and supported me. I am so grateful."
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia reacts to converting match point against Jessica Pegula of the United States during the women's singles final at the Madrid Open, Madrid, Spain, May 7, 2022. /CFP
Jabeur went into Saturday's match having won her past two meetings with Pegula, including in Dubai earlier this year.
In their first clay court encounter, Pegula quickly built a 4-1 lead and had a set point in the 10th game. But Jabeur turned the set around to clinch it 7-5. She then handed the second set easily to Pegula who won without losing a game. Jabeur, however, regained her momentum to close out the contest 6-2 with her 29th winner in the match.
Ranked No. 10 in the world before the weekend, the 27-year-old Tunisian will now return to her career-high No.7 position in Monday's ATP rankings.
