"I made sure I changed seats, went for the one that Elena Rybakina won from last year" - Ons Jabeur on avenging Wimbledon loss

Ons Jabeur avenged her loss from last year's Wimbledon final, bringing Elena Rybakina's reign at the All England Club to an end in the quarterfinals this year.

The Tunisian's aggressive approach on Wednesday (July 12) was enough to help her reverse the result from 12 months ago. She hit 35 winners, over a dozen more than her opponent's 21, throughout the match.

Jabeur, however, believes that there was more than tennis that went into making the result. After the match, she joked about deliberately choosing the seat (side of the court) that Rybakina played from in the last year's final. The Tunisian stated maybe that was what helped her get over the line in the 6-7(2), 6-4, 6-1 encounter on Wednesday.

"A little bit. When we entered the court, felt like a similar feeling of playing same match against her," Ons Jabeur said (via BBC). "But I made sure I changed seats this time. I went for the other seat that she won last year. Maybe it's the seat that made me win today."

On a more serious note, Jabeur said she came into the match with a set gameplan of hitting the ball hard and being aggressive. It was a departure from her usual crafty tennis that involves a lot of drop shots and slices.

"Well, I think maybe today wasn't that much fun," Ons Jabeur said. "I was, like, really hitting the ball. I was enjoying myself a lot. I was enjoying using her power and enjoying showing that I'm not one kind of a player that only mixes and do dropshot and slices. If you want to hit hard, I'm here to hit as fast as I can. I did show that."

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"Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, Petra Kvitova, the names are very, very tough" - Ons Jabeur on Wimbledon draw

Ons Jabeur celebrating her win over Elena Rybakina at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships.

Ons Jabeur also spoke of having found herself in a very tough section of the draw. She said she felt like all the top grasscourt players, be it reigning champion Elena Rybakina, Aryna Sabalenka, or two-time Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova, crowded the bottom half.

"I can't tell you how tough this part of the draw is," Ons Jabeur said. "And I spoke about it. I believe, like, every amazing grass player is playing on our side. Either Elena Rybakina, either Aryna Sabalenka, Ekaterina Alexandrova, Petra Kvitova. The names are very, very tough."

The Tunisian, however, was quick to add that the same does make the player who comes through the half an automatic favorite for this year's Wimbledon title.

She went on to add that her main focus was to win the Wimbledon semifinal against Sabalenka and take things one match at a time.

"I do believe our part is stronger than the other part. But, you know, every Grand Slam final is a final, and you can change a lot of things. For me, I think I'm going to focus on the semifinal and see what's going to happen," she added.

She will take on Aryna Sabalenka in the semifinals at the Centre Court on Thursday, July 13.