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Ons Jabeur and Emma Raducanu locked horns in the second round of the 2023 Abu Dhabi Open. Prior to the start of the match, they shared a light moment as a cat invaded the court during the toss.
Jabeur and Raducanu were facing each other on the WTA Tour for the first time in Abu Dhabi. After the warmup, when they came to the net for the toss, Raducanu noticed a brown cat roaming the back end of the court.
"Look, look, there is a cat," Raducanu hilariously pointed out.
Jabeur could also be seen smiling as member of the organizing team quickly took the feline away from the court.
You can watch the video of the same below:
The match itself proved to be a largely one-sided affair as Ons Jabeur dominated Emma Raducanu, who defeated Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-1 in the previous round, throughout the encounter.
The Tunisian raced to a 5-1 lead in the opening set. Raducanu did put up some resistance late in the first set to peg back the score to 5-4, but Jabeur eventually won the set, 6-4.
In the second set, the three-time Grand Slam champion routed the former US Open winner Raducanu, 6-1 to wrap up the win in an hour and 18 minutes.
Ons Jabeur will continue her journey in Abu Dhabi on January 8, when she faces Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals.
Emma Raducanu aims to "forget about” loss to Ons Jabeur
After her defeat to Ons Jabeur, Emma Raducanu stated that she hopes to move on as quickly as possible and get back on track. Since returning to the tour, Raducanu has won three matches and lost as many. In her young career, she is yet to defeat a top-10 player.
Raducanu reflected on the second-round match and praised Jabeur's hand skills in particular. The 21-year-old also commended the Tunisian's defensive skills and opined that she needs to improve this area of her game.
“It was a tough match,” said Raducanu, 21. “She is a great opponent. She has amazing hand skills. Makes life really hard for you on the court, especially with the balls which are really heavy and dead, it is difficult to generate,” Raducanu said (as quoted by the Express).
“Her defensive skills are great and I think that is something I need to improve on too. Credit to her - she played really well and it is just a match personally I need to forget about.”
Raducanu's next target is to play at the WTA 1000 Doha Open before returning to training.
“Hopefully playing Doha. Then I go back and train and go to the States hopefully as well,” she said.
