World number two Ons Jabeur reached her second consecutive Wimbledon quarter-final on Sunday, beating Elise Mertens 7-6 (11/9), 6-4.
The Tunisian fended off five set points for her 24th-seeded Belgian opponent in the first set tie-break to edge ahead.
Jabeur broke serve twice in the second set to seal the win and set up a last-eight clash against Czech player Marie Bouzkova.
The 27-year-old said she wanted to be a trailblazer for Arab and African players.
"I wish I could really give that message to the young generation not just from my country but from the African continent," she said.
"I want to see more players here. I want them to believe more in themselves and believe they can be here.
"I don't come from a rich family so you have to stop finding excuses and just go for it, enjoy it."
Just over a year ago, she became the first Arab woman to win a singles title on the elite women’s tennis tour when she lifted the trophy in Birmingham — also a grass-court tournament.
“I love playing on grass, I love the connection between nature and me, so hopefully it will continue this way for me and maybe through the finals," Jabeur said.
Shaking off the disappointment of a first-round loss at the French Open, Jabeur's goals are “very high" at the All England Club.
“No matter who’s coming, I’m going to build the fight, I’m going to fight till the end because I really want the title,” said Jabeur, who has never reached a Grand Slam semifinal.
Jabeur described her match, particularly the tiebreaker, as “10 out of 10 stressful" but that she's coping better now.
“I am breathing better. I’m expressing more my feelings before the matches. That helps me, like, really play the game that I want to play,” she said.
Jabeur is not a big fan of the antics that were on display in the fourth-round match between Nick Kyrgios and Stefanos Tsitsipas on Saturday.
“Tennis is a very beautiful sport. It shouldn’t be that way,” said Jabeur, who after her victory in the Berlin final prepared a cooler with ice for opponent Belinda Bencic, who had stopped playing because of an injured ankle.
So it was no surprise that 90 minutes after her victory on Sunday, while Jabeur was on a balcony doing TV interviews, fans yelled greetings to her from below.
“Me, I’m just someone that enjoys life a lot," Jabeur said. “For me, a tennis career is going to be very short. What’s more important for me is my character and how people talk about me.”
