No.7 seed Ons Jabeur rolled into the third round of Roland Garros on Thursday with a 6-2, 6-3 win over France's Oceane Dodin,
The Tunisian hit 25 winners and broke Dodin's serve five times in 1 hour and 11 minutes of play on Court Philippe-Chatrier to improve to 4-0 in second-round matches at Roland Garros in her career and advance to a meeting with Serbian qualifier Olga Danilovic in the last 32.
"I think it was a great match for me. I managed with the conditions, with the wind, and with someone that hits very hard," Jabeur said afterwards. "I hope I can continue playing even better for the next matches.
"She hits very flat, and her game is very risky, so you can expect a lot of winners and a lot of mistakes. I think the key for me today was to make her make more mistakes than me and manage to get away the ball from her and not get her in her comfort zone."
French Open: Scores | Order of play | Draw
Read on for the top takeaways from Jabeur's victory.
🇹🇳 Jabeur vs 🇫🇷 Dodin
— Roland-Garros (@rolandgarros) June 1, 2023
It's ON(s) on Philippe-Chatrier!
Live scores ➡️ https://t.co/OwD2vkSK2D#RolandGarros pic.twitter.com/L0ZjUJX65N
Back to back: Jabeur's 71-minute victory earned her a second win in Paris, and marked the first time that the Tunisian has won back-to-back matches since the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. In the semifinals against Iga Swiatek there, she suffered the calf injury that forced her out of the Mutua Madrid Open. She lost her opening match in Rome to Paula Badosa.
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The win was also Jabeur's second match on Court Philippe-Chatrier at the tournament so far, having beaten last week's Rabat champion, Italy's Lucia Bronzetti, there on Tuesday.
Home hopes dashed: After losses for No.5 seed Caroline Garcia and wildcard Leolia Jeanjean on Wednesday, and Diane Parry's defeat at the hands of 16-year-old Mirra Andreeve earlier on Thursday, Dodin was the last Frenchwoman standing in the draw.
Despite a gap of 115 places between the two in the rankings, No.122 Dodin hung with No.7 Jabeur in the early stages of each set. She saved four break points in her first service game, and broke Jabeur back immediately after losing serve in the fourth game of the opener, but didn't win another game in the next five.
Paris, I have Saturday plans for you 🔥 Into 3rd round baby 😎#TeamOJ pic.twitter.com/sZRAsxYLqz
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) June 1, 2023
Dodin also broke Jabeur back for 2-2 after trailing 2-0 in the second set, but later, lost the last three games of the match.
A third first-timer up next: After winning her first-ever matches against Bronzetti and Dodin, Jabeur will next face Danilovic also for the first time. The 22-year-old left-hander has won her last 10 matches, and 20 sets, after triumphing at the W100 ITF World Tennis Tour event in Madrid last week, and winning five matches here. She earned her spot in the third round with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Italy's Jasmine Paolini, coming from 5-1 down in the second set.
"I did watch her play before. Not here," Jabeur said. "She's a good friend, too. She's very nice, and we always joke around. Now I'm teasing her, and I'm like, 'I'm not talking to you' and stuff. But she's a great player, young.
"It's going to be definitely a tricky match for me. I will speak to my coach and see what the strategy will be for me."