Ons Jabeur eliminated in 2nd round of Australian Open

• Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic defeats Ons Jabeur.
• The 23-year-old is making comeback following season marred by injuries.
• She reached two Grand Slam finals and won the Madrid and Berlin.

Ons Jabeur was eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open on Thursday, becoming the tournament’s latest seed to fall.

Marketa Vondrousova of Czech Republic defeated Tunisia’s number two seed 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in 1hr 41min.

“I think she just got better in the second set,” Vondrousova explained.

“She made some incredible plays. I just tried to concentrate and play my game. And I’m really relieved to be done.”

The 23-year-old Vondrousova, who reached the top 14 in the 2019 rankings, is making a comeback following a season marred by injuries and left wrist surgery.

“It’s always difficult to return after such a long period,” she remarked.

“I just started in November and I felt fantastic and I went well,” said Vondrousova, who advanced to the final 16 at Melbourne Park in 2021.

“I worked hard on my conditioning, and I’m just glad to be back at this level and able to play these kinds of matches.”

During a wobbly first-round triumph, Jabeur had only briefly displayed the form that had propelled her to two Grand Slam finals.

After 2hr 17min, the Tunisian defeated 98th-ranked Tamara Zidansek 7-6 (10/8), 4-6, 6-1 in an underwhelming performance peppered with unforced errors.

And she struggled once more in a late-night encounter on Rod Laver Arena, which did not begin until 11.24 p.m.

Jabeur’s opening service game was lost to Vondrousova, who raced to a 3-0 lead.

Although this was their first encounter on a hard court, Vondrousova had lost all three of her prior tour-level matches against Jabeur.

The Czech broke for 5-1 and won the set in only 24 minutes of dominating tennis.

Jabeur, who missed the Australian Open due to a back ailment last year, won the Madrid and Berlin titles in a breakout season that moved her to second in the rankings.

She fought back in the second set, but was broken again when serving for the set at 5-3.

Jabeur subsequently blew a set point on Vondrousova’s following serve game, but at 6-5 created another opportunity and converted this time.

It was a rare occasion to rejoice in the midst of a desperate performance devoid of spark against an inspired opponent who just made less mistakes.

Vondrousova was unfazed, soon securing a triple break in the final set for a memorable victory.

It places her in an all-Czech third-round match against world number 82 Linda Fruhvirtova.

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