Jabeur wins Berlin Open after Bencic retirement

Ons Jabeur won the Berlin Open to seal her third career title following Belinda Bencic's retirement in the second set.

The win sees Jabeur rise to a career-high of number three in the world as the Tunisian – who was winning 6-3 2-1 when Bencic succumbed to an ankle injury – capitalised on her top seed position for the tournament.

With Jabeur on serve to clinch the first set, Bencic rolled her ankle and required treatment in a three-minute medical timeout – with Jabeur swiftly nosing herself ahead on the restart with an ace.

Olympic gold medallist Bencic pushed to continue but came to the net to retire when trailing 2-1 in the second set, taking Jabeur's tally of wins in 2022 to 30, a total that is only bettered by world number one Iga Swiatek.

Victory marked Jabeur's second title of 2022, with the 27-year-old having previously won the Madrid Open.

Sportsmanship at its finest @Ons_Jabeur steps in to help @BelindaBencic #bett1open pic.twitter.com/nsy4NoJi1P

— wta (@WTA) June 19, 2022

Jabeur had plenty of support from the crowd throughout the tournament, and said: "I cannot forget how amazing the crowd is, Tunisians are amazing, thank you for coming. I hope I can come back next year, it's been great to come back to Berlin."

Bencic paid tribute to her opponent following the game, saying: "You deserve this title, I really don't want to take this moment away from you because I think you played incredible tennis.

"This is the best tennis of your life, so I hope you continue. You gave me a really hard time, maybe it was one serve too much for me. This is your moment so I want you to enjoy it and focus on your title."

Jabeur continues her Wimbledon preparations at Eastbourne next week, competing in both the singles and doubles event – she will play alongside Serena Williams – while Bencic will be hoping to recover in time to feature in the season's third grand slam.