French Open 2024: Jabeur ends Tauson run, sets up quarterfinal clash with Gauff

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur slid into the French Open quarterfinals for the second time as she earned a hard-fought 6-4, 6-4 victory over Denmark’s Clara Tauson on Sunday.

World number nine Jabeur broke 72nd-ranked Tauson’s service in a tight third game and nearly dropped her own right afterwards in a marathon 26-point game but held firm and went on to clinch the first set.

With a superb passing shot, the 29-year-old Tunisian immediately took the lead in the second set but could not hold it and had to wait until the fifth game to break again as Tauson hit two mistimed unforced errors.

Tauson, who defeated 2017 Roland Garros champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round and former runner-up Sofia Kenin in the third, nearly drew level in the 10th game but Jabeur kept the upper hand to wrap up victory in little over an hour and a half.

Jabeur, targeting a first Grand Slam title after finishing runner-up twice at Wimbledon and at the US Open, will face world number three Coco Gauff in the quarterfinals.