CALIFORNIA, Oct 15 (Agencies): Ons Jabeur has become the first Arab player to crack the top 10 of the world rankings after reaching the Indian Wells semi-finals and the Tunisian said she is just getting started.
Jabeur, who was previously ranked 14th, reached the final of the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic earlier this month and became the first Arab player to win a WTA title at the Birmingham Classic in June.
The 27-year-old defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 7-5 6-3 in the quarter-final in the California desert, converting five of her 12 break-point chances on the way to her 48th match win of the season, the most of any player on the Tour this season.
"Top 10 is the beginning. I know I deserve this place for a long time since I was playing well. But I want to prove that I deserve to be here." Jabeur, who will face Spain's Paula Badosa in her first WTA 1000 semi-final today, said she faced many obstacles in her career because of her background.
Meanwhile, Cameron Norrie routed 11th-seeded Diego Schwartzman 6-0, 6-2 on Thursday to reach the semifinals of the BNP Paribas Open and extend the best season of his career.
Norrie needed just 73 minutes to dismantle Schwartzman, who finally held serve to open the second set, drawing cheers from the small crowd at Indian Wells Tennis Garden, where attendance has been capped at well below capacity because of the coronavirus pandemic.
"For my biggest match of my career to play like I did and execute like I did was the biggest thing that I'm most happy with," Norrie said.
Angelique Kerber, the 2019 runner-up and highest remaining seed at No. 10, lost to 21st-seeded Paula Badosa 6-4, 7-5.
Badosa beat 15th-seeded Coco Gauff in three sets and No. 3 Barbora Krejcikova in straight sets on her way to playing Jabeur in the semifinals on Friday. The other semi pits Victoria Azarenka against Jelena Ostapenko.
Schwartzman earned his only break of the match to tie it 2-all in the second. Norrie ran off the final four games to move into a semifinal against 23rd-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, who beat No. 8 Hubert Hurkacz 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2).
Schwartzman's serve deserted him under cloudless skies. He won 13 of 27 points on his first serve, and just 3 of 19 on his second serve to go with four double faults.
Hurkacz dropped a set for the first time in the tournament, losing on a let cord. Dimitrov held up both hands in a gesture of apology.
Hurkacz trailed 5-2 in the third before winning three straight games to tie at 5-all. He held at 6-all to force the tiebreak. But he appeared exhausted at that point, committing unforced errors on the final three points to lose.
"I was clearly not at my strongest, but I felt throughout the whole time I was able to do something with the ball even when I was tired," Dimitrov said. "That really made a big difference."
Norrie won his career-best 45th match of the year against 20 losses in reaching his first Masters 1000 semi. He'll become the No. 1 player in Britain in next week's rankings.
"It was never really a goal of mine, but it's definitely a great bonus to be British No. 1," Norrie said. "I want to keep pushing. I've got a lot of things to improve on."
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