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Three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur stepped up her comeback ahead of the Australian Open by beating fourth seed Danielle Collins 7-6 (8/6), 6-2 on Tuesday at the Adelaide International.
The 40th-ranked Tunisian wildcard, who last week reached the Brisbane quarterfinals, had a shoulder injury last year that kept her off court after August.
Collins, the 2022 Australian Open runner-up who cancelled a retirement scheduled for the end of 2024, was playing her first WTA match since September.
Jabeur faces Kazakhstan’s Yulia Putintseva in the last 16 and said she relied on her forehand to earn victory.
“It saved me a lot, this was a really good match for me,” she said.
“After being injured I was not expecting to win many matches, but time off helped me physically and mentally. I was a bit tired from years of tennis.”
TunisianMonitorOnline (Neji-Med-SportStar)
