Backed into a corner on Friday, the Tunisian trailblazer eventually found the answer.
Serving at 4-3, Jabeur lost a break lead. She broke back to love and then, mixing it up with spins, flicks and tricks, the three-time Grand Slam finalist stole the set.
It could have been a very different outlook for the second.
At 1-3 down, Jabeur recalibrated and teased Fernandez to go for daring shots, and it worked. Jabeur powered a forehand down the line to restore parity, eliciting loud applause from the crowd. The women’s tour’s greatest showwoman was finding her range.
At 4-5 the 29-year-old fended off set point and reeled Fernandez in for a tie-break. It was finely poised and tense, but Jabeur didn’t shy away, showing all her Grand Slam experience.
“I’m very happy I could adapt my strategy to her game,” Jabeur said during her on-court interview. “I played good shots when I needed to. I knew I needed to win in two otherwise it would be very hard for me in the third.”
Simply put, an astute, increasingly confident Jabeur is capable of great things.