Ons Jabeur became the new champion of Credit One Charleston Open after defeating Belinda Bencic 7-6(6) 6-4 in Sunday's final. It was a repeat of last year's final line-up, where the Swiss defeated Bencic in three sets. This time, the Tunisian managed to take the revenge on her good friend, winning after a great tennis showdown. Jabeur secured her final's spot after Saturday's semifinal victory against Daria Kasatkina. The world's number 4 won 7-5 7-5 and was waiting for her final's opponent till today, as the rain disrupted second semifinal's match between Bencic and Jessica Pegula. The match was completed today, starting from a set lead earned by Bencic before the rain stop. The Swiss completed her job well, eliminating tournament's top seed with a score 7-5 7-6(5).
The final was an exciting battle despite being ended up in straight sets. Bencic started well with an early break in opening game. Both players were holding serves since then till 10th game, when Bencic did not manage to serve for the set. Jabeur broke back and leveled the score, having the opportunities to tip the scales on her favour completely in 12th game. The Tunisian had 5 setpoints during Bencic's serving game, but the Swiss came back from being 0-40 down, forcing the tiebreak. Despite this effort, tiebreak was another time when the set slipped away from Bencic's hands. She was leading 6-4, but wasted two setpoints, as Jabeur won 4 points in a row and clinched the opening set. Second one was no less intense. Both players were playing aggresively, but less efficient on serve, as first 6 games brought 5 breaks. Jabeur was leading 4-2 and delivered the victory despite defending 3 breakpoints in 10th game.
"I have been wanting to win this tournament for a long time. People have been amazing to me. So it is nice to have a great memory here in Charleston and this is a pretty good start to the clay season. I am very excited to go to Paris and celebrate with my family and with my little nephew, who was just born three weeks ago. This is his gift. He doesn't know it, but it is his gift. I reacted very fast. I saw the ball coming at me, so I was just going to give her one more ball to play. I am surprised that she did not anticipate on the cross, because that is where I usually play my shots. But I think I was lucky and creative with that shot, which was amazing, and it changed up the game a bit for the first set, for sure." - said Jabeur in post-match ceremony.
