Jabeur into semis, beats Tomljanovic who ousts Serena
Newslooks- AP
Tunisian Ons Jabeur is the first woman representing an African nation to get to the final four of the U.S. Open during the professional era, which began in 1968.
“Just trying to do my job and hopefully I inspire more and more generations from Africa,” Jabeur said. “It really means a lot to me.”
She said her run to the title match at the All England Club allowed her to “believe more in myself” and realize, “I had it in me that I can win a Grand Slam.”
As for chucking her racket during the match against Tomljanovic, Jabeur joked sheepishly that the equipment “kept slipping away from my hand.”
With Medevev gone, he will drop from No. 1 in the men’s rankings on Monday, and three players have a shot at replacing him: Ruud, Rafael Nadal ( who lost in the fourth round to Frances Tiafoe on Monday ) and No. 3 Carlos Alcaraz (who plays Jannik Sinner in the quarterfinals Wednesday).
“It’s still far away, I think, but of course it’s nice that it’s possible. And Casper has a little bit of motivation with that in mind,” Christian Ruud said, “because even when he was small, his ultimate goal was to be No. 1 in the world.”
Ajla Tomljanovic felt like a villain when she beat Serena Williams at the U.S. Open. Tomljanovic will likely be known as the last opponent Williams faced at Flushing Meadows.
She might have felt bad about beating Williams. But she was proud of her own accomplishments at the Open after she lost on Tuesday. Ons Jabeur of Tunisia advanced to her first semifinal in New York with a 6-4, 7-6 (4) victory.
“I probably should reflect a little bit and just give myself a little pat on the back, because I do deserve it,” Tomljanovic said. “It’s probably my biggest thing that I’m bad at, that I just don’t give myself enough credit. I’m very hard on myself. Someone should come up to me and just say that I should give myself credit now, because it’s due.”
Tomljanovic was unabashedly a fan of Williams, having grown up watching her play on TV. So, she just said she was sorry she beat Williams but didn’t let the emotional win or distractions result in a letdown in her next match, another victory. Tomljanovic is projected to have a career-best ranking at the end of the Open. She became the first Australian women to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open in a season since 1979.
“Sometimes I’m scared to almost get happy because I feel like, you know, I’m going to jinx myself for the next one or get too excited,” she said. “Yeah, there is like a mental block that I have with that stuff.”
Serena Williams was a smash hit in the ratings for her apparent final U.S. Open match.
ESPN said Tuesday that Williams’ expected farewell to Flushing Meadows was the most-watched tennis telecast in the network’s 43-year history. Her loss last Friday to Ajla Tomljanovich drew 4.6 million viewers. The previous record of 3.9 million was for the 2012 Wimbledon final, when Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray, in ESPN’s first year with exclusivity.
The ratings peaked for the Williams match at 6.9 million viewers in the 10:15 p.m. quarter-hour as the match wound down. Through the first five days of the US Open, an average of 1.1. million viewers tuned in to ESPN networks, up 101% versus 2021. These are the most-viewed first five days of the US Open on record on ESPN networks.
Williams’ second-round victory over Anett Kontaveit averaged 3.6 million viewers.
