Twelve months after losing the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina from a set up, Ons Jabeur got her revenge in the sequel.

From a set down and 4-4 in the second set of Wednesday's quarterfinal, sixth-seeded Jabeur won eight of the next nine games to beat third-seed and defending champion Rybakina 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-1, to reach her third career Grand Slam semifinal.

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"I believe last year maybe I wasn't ready to play this kind of match. I don't regret last year. It happened for a reason. I always say it. It was meant to be this year. It was meant to be in the quarterfinals," Jabeur said afterwards.

"I have learned a lot from the final last year. Definitely very proud of myself for the improvement that I did mentally, physically, and with the tennis racquet."

Stat of the day: Wednesday's match between Jabeur and Rybakina was the first rematch between the prior year's finalists at the next Wimbledon since Serena and Venus Williams played in back-to-back finals from 2008-09. 

How the match was won: Jabeur had a set point in the opening set, as she served for it at 6-5 after coming from 3-1 behind, before Rybakina broke her, and won three points in a row from 3-3 in the ensuing tiebreak to steal the set.

The match looked as though it would tilt firmly in the defending champion's favor early in the second set, as she held from 0-40 in the second game and had three break points against Jabeur's serve at 2-2. But the Tunisian held firm, and when she earned a fourth break point in the set in the 10th game -- after hitting three forehand winners to get to 15-40 -- she was not denied.

"Especially after losing first set, I didn't care. I went for every shot. ... The way I played, I felt so free on the court," Jabeur said. "The coach said I followed the plan 70%, which is a high percentage.

"It was very tough. Sometimes someone like Elena pushes you to play different plans. But I'm glad that I did stick to the one we agreed on. Even though there were very difficult moments, she was putting a lot of pressure on me, she was hitting amazing. I'm very, very glad that I stayed focused."

That momentum continued into the decider, where Jabeur won the first three games -- with her two service holds going to deuce. After Rybakina held from 0-30 down to get on the board, Jabeur stifled the only chance her opponent had from then on with a crucial hold from 15-40 that extended her lead to 4-1. 

Scouting the semifinals: For a spot in the final for the second year in a row, Jabeur will next face No.2 seed Aryna Sabalenka, who dismissed Madison Keys in straight sets.

Sabalenka overpowers Keys to reach Wimbledon semifinals

Sabalenka leads their head-to-head, 3-1, including a straight-sets win in the Wimbledon quarterfinals in 2021. And the Tunisian is going into Thursday's match with a similar mindset that she had against Rybakina.

"I'm going to try my best to stay focused and take every opportunity," Jabeur said. "Aryna is more emotional than Elena, so maybe it could be a good or bad thing, I'm not sure. But let's see tomorrow.

"I'm going to prepare and take my revenge from two years ago."