No.1 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia got her grass-court swing off to a flying start with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Colombia's Camila Osorio in the first round of the Rothesay Open on Tuesday.
"Great to be back on grass," Jabeur said after her win. "Definitely feel happy to play here in Nottingham. I thought I played a good match today, and hopefully the level will be much better for the next matches. Looking forward to play more matches here in Nottingham, and I hope it’s going to be great preparation for Wimbledon."
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In her debut appearance in Nottingham, World No.10 Jabeur needed just 62 minutes to ease past 81st-ranked Osorio and improve to 4-0 in their head-to-head. This was their first meeting on grass, and their first meeting which was not at a Grand Slam event.
Jabeur will next take on qualifier Linda Fruhvirtova in the second round. It will be the first career meeting between Jabeur and 19-year-old Czech Fruhvirtova, who cracked the Top 50 a year ago and is currently ranked World No.139.
this rally had it all 🤩#RothesayOpen pic.twitter.com/NESSI3B6LJ
— wta (@WTA) June 11, 2024
Powering through: Jabeur, a Wimbledon finalist in 2022 and 2023, exhibited her grass-court acumen right from the start on Tuesday. Jabeur breezed through her service games in the first set, dropping only a single point on her delivery.
Osorio made things more complicated in the second set, where she garnered two break points in Jabeur's opening service game. However, the Tunisian used her all-court play to get through that game and stay on the front foot.
Jabeur took control for good at 3-3, reaching double break point after two consecutive double faults by Osorio. Jabeur converted the break by firing a backhand down the sideline and forcing an error by Osorio.
All told, Jabeur won the final four games of the match, converting her first match point after Osorio's fifth double fault of the day. Jabeur, who was never broken, finished the clash with an 83 percent success rate behind her first serve.