(Tennis news) Ons Jabeur overcame Belinda Bencic 7-6 (8-6) 6-4 to win the Charleston Open. It was the first title for the Tunisian this season who finished as runner-up at Wimbledon and the US Open in 2022. Bencic, who was defending her title, played two matches on Sunday, overcoming Jessica Pegula in a rain affected semi-final before taking on Jabeur.
It was Ons Jabeur’s fourth WTA title and her second on clay. She had a difficult start in her 2023 season, struggling with injury after being eliminated in the second round of the Australian Open in January but appears to have found her rhythm this time around, coming from a break down in the first set to secure the title. The result meant that she has now won 37 clay court matches since 2020, the most for any WTA Tour player in that time period.
In other results, world number 5 Casper Ruud overcame Kecmanovic to win the Escorial Open, thereby securing his first title of the year. The World Number 5 won five straight games in the first set before Kecmanovic took his opponent to a tie-break in the second set. However, the Norwegian showed great composure to win 6-1 7-6 (7-3). It has been a good turnaround for Ruud, who had only won five of his 11 games in 2023 prior to this.
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