Charleston Open Highlights: Jabeur vs Kasatkina: Wimbledon finalist and world no.5 Ons Jabeur said a rain delay that lasted more than 3 hours helped her regroup & focus and eventually helped win her Charleston Open 2023 semi-final against world n0.8 Daria Kasatkina. Jabeur had a disappointing start to the match and didn’t look like she would reach her first final in 2023 but pulled through. The Tunisian, who had minor surgery in February had skipped events in Doha and Dubai, was trailing her Russian opponent 3-5 in the first set. That’s when rain stopped play and Jabeur returned rejuvenated to complete a 7-5 7-5 victory. Follow Charleston Open 2023 LIVE updates on InsideSport.IN
Back in the #CharlestonOpen final 🙌
🇹🇳 @Ons_Jabeur roars back to defeat Kasatkina 7-5 7-5 to secure her spot on Championship Sunday! 💪 pic.twitter.com/QJPbbZkfSi
— Credit One Charleston Open (@CharlestonOpen) April 8, 2023
“I have to thank the rain,” Tunisian Jabeur, the runner-up to Swiss Belinda Bencic in 2022, told reporters on Saturday.
“It allowed me to talk to my coach a bit and he gave me some advice and I reflected on what happened in the first set.
“My game was there, I just needed to find something small. I was more patient definitely after, I was building my point more and that really helped me.” Kasatkina said she was frustrated by the delay which meant the match ended more than five hours after it began.
“I just wish all tennis was played indoors like most of the other sports,” Kasatkina said.
Up next for Jabeur, last year’s Wimbledon and US Open runner-up, is either top seed Jessica Pegula or holder Bencic.
The second semi-final was suspended late on Saturday with Bencic up 7-5 6-6 but Pegula ahead 4-2 in the tiebreak.
The match will be completed on Sunday with the final scheduled to take place later in the day.
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