Jabeur tames Tauson on Lenglen

Improvisation and frustration 

The No.8 seed offered very little in the way of kindness to Tauson on Court Suzanne-Lenglen on Sunday, instead she befuddled the 21-year-old with a diabolical diet of drop shots that forced the Dane out of her comfort zone early and often. 

Though the tactic didn’t always pay dividends, they helped Jabeur – the queen of the cat-and-mouse – put her imprint on the run of play early in the pair’s second meeting, and first since Jabeur’s victory by the same scoreline at the Billie Jean King Cup in 2020. 

Tauson’s plans to impose her power game on Jabeur were thwarted by the 29-year-old’s ability to absorb pace and offer wizardry in return, and the terms of the match were dictated by the Tunisian from the start. 

Jabeur broke early for 2-1 and then weathered a nervous, back-and-forth game that lasted 25 points and ended with the Tunisian leading 3-1 after saving a break point. 

The Copenhagen native, appearing in her first round of 16 contest at the majors, hung close for the rest of the set but Jabeur only dropped two points in her final three service games to lock down the opener in 50 minutes. 

The second set started with three consecutive breaks of serve and Jabeur holding the 2-1 advantage, as the three-time Grand Slam finalist continued to blow up traditional points, keeping Tauson at bay with her delightful brand of shotmaking ingenuity.

How many times did Tauson direct a massive baseline blast at her opponent, only to see the Tunisian carve up a completely unscripted drop shot reply? More than a few...

Net gains

Credit the hard-serving Dane for keeping it close. Was she agitated at times? Yes, and it was obvious. But the Dane never gave up the chase and kept Jabeur within range for the entirety of the 95-minute showdown. She served well and drove her groundstrokes with impressive authority, but her lack of means at the net kept her from mounting a comeback. 

Tauson was lured into the net 28 times, and won only half of those points, and she was frequently frustrated by Jabeur’s ability to goad her into the forecourt. 

When Tauson played points on her terms she did a great job of forcing Jabeur into errors – the Tunisian committed 32 unforced errors, but still managed to win 11 more points than Tauson overall. 

Jabeur delivered in the clutch as well, handling the big moments better, such as 4-3, 30-all in the second set, when she tattooed a backhand winner down the line to earn a game point, which was quickly converted with a service winner for 5-3. 

Two games later, fans inside Court Suzanne-Lenglen got the Mexican wave cooking before Jabeur served for the match at 6-4, 5-4. The Tunisian, never one to spoil a good vibe, rode that wave to victory. 

“Clara was a little difficult for me,” Jabeur told the crowd after the match. “The last games were the most difficult. Thanks to the support of the fans, I was able to keep my focus and concentration on the court.” 

The world No.9 credited her coaching team for prepping her with the perfect game plan against the powerful young talent.

“The message was to play my game, because I know that I could bother her, and I had to move her, and that’s what I did to make my coach happy,” she said. 

Coco comes next 

Jabeur will face Coco Gauff for the seventh time in the quarter-finals, and the second time at Roland-Garros. In 2021, Gauff claimed a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Jabeur in the round of 16 in Paris, and the pair have split their two meetings on clay overall. 

Third-seeded Gauff defeated Italy’s Elisabetta Cocciaretto 6-1, 6-2 on Sunday. 

“She’s an extraordinary player,” Jabeur said of the 20-year-old American. “Since she was young she played very well, and then she won the US Open last year. She is very tough on the clay, it’s going to be an exceptional match between us.”