World No. 114 and French Open lucky loser Ons Jabeur stunned No. 6 seed Dominika Cibulkova on Wednesday, knocking her out of the tournament in the second round with a 6-4, 6-3 win.
On top of being the first lucky loser to make the third round at Roland Garros since 1996, the Tunisian 22-year-old became the first Arab woman to make the third round in singles play at any Slam with the win.
Jabeur won the junior French Open title in 2011, but hadn't even played a main-draw match at the tournament until Monday, when she beat qualifier Ana Bogdan. On Wednesday, she took advantage of a wobbly Cibulkova - who's been injured or ineffective throughout the clay-court season - to collect her first career top-10 win and make history.
"I forgot already about being a lucky loser," she told reporters in her post-match press conference.
Jabeur demonstrated fine control and touch from both wings, ripping passing shots and flicking feathery drop shots, hitting 30 winners against just 17 unforced errors, and dropping just two first-serve points the entire match. After falling down a break in the second set, she stormed back to win the final five games to set up a third-round meeting against 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky.
"I'm really happy," Jabeur said. "I played really good from the beginning of the year, and I don't see why I should not continue doing my best. I have been working very hard, and it's time to make the work on the court and prove that I can be one of the best."
