PARIS: Eighth seed Ons Jabeur began her latest attempt to win an elusive Grand Slam title with a comfortable 6-3, 6-2 victory over American wildcard Sachia Vickery in the French Open first round today.
In front of a thin crowd on Court Philippe Chatrier, Tunisian Jabeur quickly racked up a 3-0 lead, but Vickery reduced the gap with a break of her own, only to hand the momentum back to the former Wimbledon and US Open runner-up.
Jabeur pulled out plenty of tricks to close out the opening set, even as the roof closed over the main show court due to rain, before taking control of the second set as Vickery struggled.
The 29-year-old American had prevailed in three sets in the pair’s only previous meeting in Chicago six years ago, but there was no late comeback as 2023 quarterfinalist Jabeur clinically closed out the match on serve in 81 minutes.