London:Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan defeated Ons Jabeur of Tunisia to win the women's singles title at Wimbledon in three sets and claimed a historic maiden Grand Slam title for herself and her country. Rybakina fought back brilliantly after losing the first set to defeat third seed Jabeur 3-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a final between two first-timers.
Rybakina lost her serve early in the first set as Jabeur took a 3-1 lead and went on to a dominant 6-3 win. Jabeur is the first female player from the Arab world to reach this stage in a Grand Slam competition and though she started well, Rybakina was too good for her on Saturday.
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Rybakina found her rhythm in the second set and dominated the match thereafter, negating Jabeur's dogged style of play that involves mixing powerful groundstrokes with well-disguised drop shots, with big serves and brilliant net play. The 23-year-old Moscow-born Rybakina broke Jabeur early in the second set, and then got the better of her rival's serve once again to take the match into a decider.
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Though Jabeur tried to fight back in the final set and had three break points at 2-3 down, Rybakina, who defeated former champion Simona Halep in the semifinal, saved all three and went on to win the set, match and Championship.
