Tunisia’s Jabeur Beats Sabalenka to Reach her 2nd Wimbledon Final in a Row

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates beating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates beating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
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Tunisia’s Jabeur Beats Sabalenka to Reach her 2nd Wimbledon Final in a Row

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates beating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)
Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates beating Belarus' Aryna Sabalenka during their women's singles semi-finals tennis match on the eleventh day of the 2023 Wimbledon Championships at The All England Lawn Tennis Club in Wimbledon, southwest London, on July 13, 2023. (Photo by Adrian DENNIS / AFP)

Ons Jabeur came back from a set and a break down to defeat Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 on Thursday and reach the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year.

This will be the third title match for Jabeur in the past five Grand Slam tournaments. The 25-year-old from Tunisia already was the only Arab woman and only North African woman to get to a major final.
So far, she is 0-2 at that stage after losing to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club last July and to Iga Swiatek at the US Open last September.

The sixth-seeded Jabeur’s victory Thursday, which came by collecting 10 of the last 13 games, prevented the second-seeded Sabalenka from replacing Swiatek at No. 1 in the rankings. Sabalenka came into the match with a 17-1 record at majors in 2023, including a trophy at the Australian Open.
Jabeur’s opponent for the championship on Saturday will be Marketa Vondrousova.

Vondrousova became the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King in 1963 by eliminating Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3 earlier Thursday.

Vondrousova reeled off seven consecutive games in one stretch and then held off a brief comeback bid for the victory. She is ranked 43rd and reached the second Grand Slam final of her career after getting that far as a teenager at the 2019 French Open.



Italian Club Parma Hires Cristian Chivu as Coach for Relegation Battle in Serie A 

Parma’s Giovanni Leoni (C) celebrates after scoring the 2-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Parma Calcio 1913, in Cagliari, Italy, 09 February 2025. (EPA)
Parma’s Giovanni Leoni (C) celebrates after scoring the 2-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Parma Calcio 1913, in Cagliari, Italy, 09 February 2025. (EPA)
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Italian Club Parma Hires Cristian Chivu as Coach for Relegation Battle in Serie A 

Parma’s Giovanni Leoni (C) celebrates after scoring the 2-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Parma Calcio 1913, in Cagliari, Italy, 09 February 2025. (EPA)
Parma’s Giovanni Leoni (C) celebrates after scoring the 2-1 goal during the Italian Serie A soccer match between Cagliari Calcio and Parma Calcio 1913, in Cagliari, Italy, 09 February 2025. (EPA)

Relegation-threatened Parma hired Cristian Chivu as coach on Tuesday with the team 18th in the 20-team Serie A.

Parma announced the appointment in a statement that did not specify contract details, but according to reports Chivu's deal runs until the end of next season.

The former Romania defender, who was working as a youth coach at Inter Milan, will lead the team for the first time when it hosts Bologna on Saturday.

Parma lost four straight games before firing Fabio Pecchia on Monday and has not won a league game in 2025.