Jabeur cools off Kontaveit, Badosa shows Kerber door
INDIAN WELLS: Ons Jabeur punched her ticket into the top 10 and advanced to the semi-finals of the WTA Indian Wells with a convincing 7-5, 6-3 victory over Anett Kontaveit on Thursday.
Jabeur now has a tour-leading 48 wins this season as she tries to capture her second career title after winning a tournament earlier this year in Birmingham.
“My game hasn’t changed,” she said. “I want to play the slice, drop shots and be good on the forehand. I am improving on a lot of things”.
In the other quarter-final, Spain’s Paula Badosa put the finishing touches on the top seed assault, showing the door to three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber with a 6-4, 7-5 win. Jabeur, of Tunisia, will face Badosa for a spot in the final.
The other semi-final features twotime winner Victoria Azarenka against 24th seed Jelena Ostapenko.
Jabeur’s win guarantees she will move into the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in her career on Monday. “It is amazing. I have been working so hard. At the end of last year I said I wanted to be in top 10. People doubted me,” she said.
The combined WTA and ATP Masters event is normally held in March, but returned this fall after a two-anda-half-year hiatus due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
In the men’s event, Britain’s Cameron Norrie used a precise service game to overpower Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2 to reach the semi-finals.
Norrie, the 21st seed, needed just 73 minutes to dispatch the Argentinian and has now won three of four career matches against Schwartzman.
Norrie, appearing in his first Indian Wells quarter-final, next faces Grigor Dimitrov who outlasted eighth seeded Hubert Hurkacz in three sets, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/2).
“I have been pretty consistent this year,” said Norrie, who was born in South Africa and grew up in New Zealand. “I think I am really doing the fundamentals well on serve and return and playing the big points better.”