The world No. 3 made a strong start from a set-down to beat Marie Buzkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on center court.
But after reaching the last four, she said it had been a long time since she arrived in person.
“I was talking to (former world No. 22) Hicham Arazi for a bit, and he said to me: ‘Arabs always lose in the quarter-finals and we’re sick of it. Please break it down.’ I was like: ‘I’ll try, my friend’… We were just texting, and he was really happy. He was like: ‘Thanks for finally making the semifinals. Now, you can really go on’ and can get the title.'”
For Jabeur, a quarter-finalist at last year’s Wimbledon and the 2020 Australian Open, it was a matter of getting his feet on the historic court.
After a muddy first set, in which Buzkova’s defense and pace helped Jabur make untimely mistakes, the Tunisian finally found her feet.
The 27-year-old hit more winners than errors in the final two sets, winning eight consecutive games 2-1 in the second set.
And he won eight of the last nine points in the final set and secured a crucial and important victory.
Maria is enjoying her stellar performance of reaching the semi-finals just 15 months after the birth of her second daughter.
German and Jabeur are good friends away from tennis, with Jabeur admitting that world number 103 is his “BBQ friend”.
Jabeur said, “It’s great to see her on tour with my kids. The fact is that she really came back and did everything and, in fact, she deserves to be here.” “Winning her against (Jelena) Ostapenko, winning against (Maria) Sakkari was a really tough draw. Really, she played really well. I know she can play really well on the grass.
“Obviously she’s hard to play and I was joking with (Maria’s first daughter) Charlotte, I was telling her: ‘Are you going to support me or your mom?’ I’m trying to turn all the kids on my side… I’m really happy for him that he’s getting what he deserves. I know he struggled a lot. It’s easy to come back after having two kids No. It’s going to be a great match between us, a lot of respect, for sure.”