Jabeur in semis but ‘fired as Minister of Happiness’

Fifth seed Ons Jabeur ended Ajla Tomljanovic’s run to reach the US Open semi-finals for the first time.

Jabeur is the first African woman in the Open era to reach the last four in singles at Flushing Meadows.

The 28-year-old will face either home favourite Coco Gauff or France’s Caroline Garcia for a spot in her second major final.

Jabeur, nicknamed the Minister of Happiness in her home country, often looked down on herself against the in-form Tomljanovic, who beat Serena Williams in a thrilling third-round match.

She apologised for her negativity afterwards, joking: “I think I am going to be fired as Minister of Happiness.

“It is tough to manage the frustration and I apologise for my behaviour.

“I wanted to stay calm but the racquet kept slipping away from my hands.”

Jabeur and Tomljanovic traded breaks in the opening set before the fifth seed took the lead with an outrageous reflex volley that landed just on the baseline.

After closing out the first set on a long Tomljanovic strike, Jabeur instantly broke to start the second, but neither player could find any rhythm.

There were six breaks of serve in the first nine games, including when Tomljanovic served for the set at 5-3, before Jabeur eventually held for 5-5.

Despite rescuing the set and forcing a tie-break Jabeur cut a frustrated figure and was jeered by the crowd when she twice threw her racquet to the ground.

However, she was able to find her serve when she needed it most to keep alive her hopes of a maiden Grand Slam title.

“I know that I have it in me to win a Grand Slam – I had to keep working hard [after Wimbledon] and here I am in the semi-finals,” she said.