Ons Jabeur’s round-of-64 defeat was the biggest result on day four at the 2023 Australian Open. Marketa Vondrousova took out the second seed 6-1, 5-7, 6-1 in an hour and 42 minutes in the last match of the day at the Rod Laver Arena.
At no point during the match did the Tunisian look comfortable and although she won the second set, it had more to do with her opponent’s level dipping than it had to do with her pushing past the opening set loss. That set alone had five breaks of serve – three of them consecutively at one point as neither player seemed to be able to retain it.
Jabeur served for the set in the ninth game but was broken. Eventually, she claimed the set in the 12th game after breaking the Czech’s serve as she tried to stay in it.
Australian Open: Ons Jabeur’s disappoints
Despite losing the second set, Vondrousova began both the first and third sets with a service break.
Alongside finding winners for herself, the southpaw was also helped by Jabeur’s multiplying error count throughout. It took Vondrousova merely 24 minutes to wrap up the first set and while she was unable to serve out the match in the sixth game of the decider, thanks to a break on her opponent’s serve in the seventh game, the set itself was wrapped up in 26 minutes.
Jabeur had 10 more winners to her opponent’s 17. But she also had 50 unforced errors, 26 more than Vondrousova’s 24. The higher-ranked player’s error-prone game also accounted for Vondrousova winning 65% points on return on her second serve.
Vondrousova finished the match with 93 points to Jabeur’s 77. Earlier in the day session, American qualifier Katie Volynets posted another upset by ousting ninth seed Veronika Kudermetova in their second-round match-up.
Volynets won 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. Meanwhile, fourth seed Caroline Garcia and fifth seed Aryna Sabalenka were among the higher-ranked players who moved into the third round at the Australian Open. Garcia defeated Leylah Fernandez 7-6(5), 7-5.
Sabalenka won against Shelby Rogers 6-3, 6-1. 
