Tunisian Ons Jabeur is hoping the romantic atmosphere of Paris will help her quest for a maiden grand slam title after reaching the French Open quarter-finals for the first time.
The world No.7 was heartbroken after losing the Wimbledon and US Open finals last year but the 28-year-old stormed into the last eight at Roland Garros with a 6-3 6-1 win over Bernarda Pera.
Jabeur became the first African player to reach the quarter-finals at each of the four majors in the Open era.
Jabeur will next take on another trailblazer,14th-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia who became the first Brazilian woman to reach a major quarter-final since Maria Bueno made the 1968 US Open semi-finals.
Tweet from @rolandgarros
“Paris is always romantic, day or night. Winning here will definitely be an amazing memory for me. For now, I just want to take it one match at a time,” Jabeur told reporters.
“I will have a very difficult quarter-final. I was just taking it one match at a time, trying to make it to the second week. Now I’m going to push more for the next few matches.”
Jabeur has endured a stop-start season in which she had minor knee surgery before winning the Charleston title and skipping Madrid with a calf problem.
“I have learned a lot how to accept things, either good or bad,” Jabeur said. “For me, being injured was part of my path, how the season would have started here this year.
“I worked a lot on my mental health and worked a lot on how to manage all this, because I believe there is a lot of injuries are connected to our emotional part. I’m trying to manage that.
“The season is still long, so hopefully no more injuries and I can continue in a great path.”
Tweet from @rolandgarros
Haddad Maia, who prevailed over Sara Sorribes Tormo after a nearly four-hour marathon.
Haddad Maia rallied past her Spanish rival 6-7 (3-7) 6-3 7-5 in a match that featured 16 breaks of serve in windy conditions.
Sorribes Tormo had progressed to the fourth round thanks to a walkover after her opponent, reigning Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina, withdrew with an illness.
-Reuters
