Ons Jabeur Completes Second-Round Comeback at Cincinnati 

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia serves to Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine during their third round match at the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 15, 2023, in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia serves to Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine during their third round match at the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 15, 2023, in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
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Ons Jabeur Completes Second-Round Comeback at Cincinnati 

Ons Jabeur of Tunisia serves to Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine during their third round match at the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 15, 2023, in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)
Ons Jabeur of Tunisia serves to Anhelina Kalinina of the Ukraine during their third round match at the Western & Southern Open at Lindner Family Tennis Center on August 15, 2023, in Mason, Ohio. (Getty Images/AFP)

No. 5 seed Ons Jabeur of Tunisia battled back from a hefty deficit in the third set to secure a 6-3, 6-7 (2), 7-6 (2) victory over Ukrainian Anhelina Kalinina in a second-round match at the Western & Southern Open on Tuesday in Mason, Ohio.

After earning a first-round bye, Jabeur was playing in her first match since losing to Czech Marketa Vondrousova in the Wimbledon final on July 15. She took command early, recording four aces to take the opening set before Kalinina leveled the match.

Kalinina carried that momentum over to the third set, where she jumped out to a 5-1 lead. But Jabeur took the next five games, eventually forced a tiebreaker and went on to prevent the upset at the Cincinnati-area tournament.

"Very happy with the win," Jabeur said. "It was very tough, but I'm glad that I kept fighting, kept playing point by point, and I'm glad that I got the win in the end."

Jabeur finished with six aces for the match. Kalinina saved 14 of 21 break points, but she was hampered by 13 double faults.

"Some situations that I went through during this match definitely helped get me back into the hard-court season," Jabeur said. "I will try to keep going, keep playing more matches. The more matches I play, the better."

In a second-round match contested Tuesday night, the United States' Sloane Stephens ousted French sixth seed Caroline Garcia 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Czechs Petra Kvitova and Vondrousova and Daria Kasatkina of Russia were also able to ward off upsets on Tuesday.

Kvitova, the No. 9 seed, beat Russian Anna Blinkova 7-6 (2), 6-0, and Vondrousova, the No. 10 seed, defeated countrywoman Katerina Siniakova 7-5, 6-4. Fourteenth-seeded Kasatkina swept American Peyton Stearns 6-2, 6-1.

No. 11 seed Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic wasn't as lucky, falling 6-3, 7-5 to Belarus' Victoria Azarenka. Swiss No. 13 seed Belinda Bencic was also toppled by an unseeded opponent, losing 6-4, 3-6, 2-6 to Spain's Cristina Bucsa.

Belgium's Elise Mertens knocked out 15th-seeded Madison Keys of the United States 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in a match that ended at 1 a.m. local time on Wednesday.

Other first-round winners on Tuesday included Romanian Sorana Cirstea, Marie Bouzkova and Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, Egypt's Mayar Sherif, Varvara Gracheva of France, Latvian Jelena Ostapenko and Italy's Martina Trevisan.

Croatians Donna Vekic and Petra Martic and Americans Ann Li and Danielle Collins also earned victories.



Saudi Arabia and Qatar Gain Home Advantage in Next Asia Qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
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Saudi Arabia and Qatar Gain Home Advantage in Next Asia Qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP
File Photo: The World Cup Trophy displayed ahead of the draw of the groups of the European qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Zurich, Switzerland. AFP

Saudi Arabia and Qatar drew home advantage in the fourth round of Asia qualifying for the 2026 World Cup on Thursday.

In October, Qatar will host Group A that also contains the United Arab Emirates and Oman, The Associated Press said.

Saudi Arabia welcomes Iraq and Indonesia into Group B.

The winner of each round-robin group will take Asia’s last two remaining automatic spots at next summer’s tournament, to be hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The teams that finish second will then meet, with the winner progressing to inter-confederation playoffs, which are scheduled for March 2026.

Six teams from Asia secured qualification last month: Japan, Iran, South Korea and Australia have all participated numerous times, while Jordan and Uzbekistan will make their first appearance.