"My dream started last year when I had fun playing here," admits world No.2 Jabeur.

At 27, the one her compatriots call "the Minister of Happiness" had reached the quarterfinals last year and could become the first player from the African continent to win a Major.

"I did not expect to reach the second week, so in the final ...", underlines for his part Rybakina (23rd) who, at 23, is participating in his second Wimbledon (elimination in the round of 16 last year ).

The Kazahke Elena Rybakina after her victory in the Wimbledon semi-final against the Romanian Simona Halep on July 7, 2022 SEBASTIEN BOZON AFP

Until then, neither player had passed the quarterfinals in Grand Slams: Rybakina had reached them last year at Roland-Garros, when Jabeur had made a name for herself by becoming the first player in the Arab world to rise at this stage of a Grand Slam tournament, in 2020 at the Australian Open.

Wimbledon goal

With his tennis in touch, a lot of slice and a lot of amortizations, Jabeur considers "to have the game" to win on the Center Court and assures that since his defeat in the quarterfinals last year, his "main objective" of the 2022 season was the title at Wimbledon.

Her preparation has been good, as she won the grass court tournament in Berlin and is therefore undefeated on this surface in eleven matches.

Tunisian Ons Jabeur in the Wimbledon semi-final against Germany's Tatjana Maria on July 7, 2022 SEBASTIEN BOZON AFP/Archives

Same assurance for Rybakina, who would be the first representative of Kazakhstan - the president of the Kazakh Federation was also in the stands for the semi-final - to win a Major: "I think I have a game to go far in the tournaments of Grand Slam. And I believe that one day I will win one".

Unlike her opponent, the Kazakh who was born, raised and resides in Moscow (while Russian players are banned from Wimbledon due to the invasion of Ukraine), returns from injury and health problems, so she didn't have a good preparation.

But, she believes, she has nothing to lose, which is what allowed her to approach Wimbledon "more relaxed".

Her slackness on the field successively got the better of Coco Vandeweghe, Bianca Andreescu (winner of the US Open 2019), then Qinwen Zheng, Petra Martic, Ajla Tomljanovic, the only player to have taken a set from her, and finally Simona Halep, winner 2019.

The speech of a champion

Before the semi-final, she had hit 122 winners in five games, including 44 aces, and won 85% of her service games.

She added 5 aces and 21 winners to break through Halep's defense.

But the Romanian considers that the Kazakh could be destabilized by Jabeur's game "all in changes of rhythm, with slices to break the rhythm", not to mention that the Tunisian "serves well".

For Halep, it will be necessary for Rybakina to manage to maintain the level she has displayed since the start of the tournament to have a chance of triumphing, which is very possible if she "maintains her level of confidence".

Kazahke Elena Rybakina in her semi-final against Romanian Simona Halep on July 7, 2022 Glyn KIRK AFP / Archives

"She serves very well, so I will have to start by putting back as many of her serves as possible to make her work hard on every point. I know she is able to hit hard and land a lot of winners, but I also know that my game can really bother her", analyzes Jabeur who has won two of their three previous confrontations.

"I often imagined myself giving a speech while holding the trophy... often, underlines Jabeur. So now, I really want to take it in my hands. And I know that I can do it. I hate to disappoint myself so I hope not to not do it (Saturday). There is only one game left..."

Ons Jabeur, who hopes never to lose the title of minister of happiness in Tunisia, has a smile on his face most of the time.

Rybakina is much more impassive.

There is no doubt, however, that on Saturday, boundless joy will radiate around the winner.

Whoever she is.

© 2022 AFP