Ons Jabeur overcame breathing difficulties to secure a gritty 7-5, 7-6 first round win over Colombia's Camila Osorio on Tuesday at the US Open, where the Tunisian fifth seed is hoping to end a run of Grand Slam near misses.
Jabeur, in her first Grand Slam since suffering "the most painful loss" of her career in the Wimbledon final and a day after turning 29, showed a warrior's mentality in a two-hour battle at Louis Armstrong Stadium played in humid conditions.
"It wasn't an easy match, she plays unbelievable and I'm not feeling my best today," Jabeur said in her on-court interview before the crowd sang "Happy Birthday" to her.
"I know at some point I didn't have the best attitude on the court but I was trying, you know, to get to play.
"It's not easy also playing her. She was trying to make me run even more so that wasn't helping. But I'm glad that I got the win, especially that I showed myself that I can push and do better on the court."
Jabeur, who lost the last two Wimbledon finals and suffered the same fate at the 2022 US Open, was in total control early as she went up a double break for a comfortable 4-1 lead before her energy level and serve percentage started to drop.
While serving with a 4-3 lead Jabeur told the chair umpire she was having trouble breathing and then went on to lose the game as Osorio broke to get the match back on serve.
When Osorio won a fourth consecutive game for a 5-4 lead Jabeur looked out of sorts while she spent several minutes in her chair as a doctor took her blood pressure and did a general health check before the Tunisian resumed the match.
A determined Jabeur dug deep and won three consecutive games to wrap up the opening frame in 59 minutes before leaving the Louis Armstrong Stadium court.
Both players struggled to defend their serve in the second set where Jabeur broke for a 4-3 lead and, with the finish line in sight, turned aside two break points to hold for a 5-3 advantage.
But Osorio refused to back down and saved two match points on her next service game and then broke to love to level the set at 5-5 before another exchange of breaks forced a tiebreaker where Jabeur found her way on her third match point when the Colombian sent a forehand into the net.
Up next for Jabeur will be unseeded Czech Linda Noskova.
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
SNAPSHOT
While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
RESULTS
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (Turf) 1,200m
Winner: AF Majalis, Tadhg O’Shea (jockey), Ernst Oertel (trainer).
5.30pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Sawt Assalam, Szczepan Mazur, Ibrahim Al Hadhrami.
6pm: Maiden (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Foah, Fabrice Veron, Eric Lemartinel.
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh 70,000 (T) 1,400m
Winner: Faiza, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.
7pm: Handicap (PA) Dh 80,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: RB Dixie Honor, Antonio Fresu, Helal Al Alawi.
7.30pm: Rated Conditions (TB) Dh 100,000 (T) 1,600m
Winner: Boerhan, Ryan Curatolo, Nicholas Bachalard.
Key changes
Commission caps
For life insurance products with a savings component, Peter Hodgins of Clyde & Co said different caps apply to the saving and protection elements:
• For the saving component, a cap of 4.5 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 90 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• On the protection component, there is a cap of 10 per cent of the annualised premium per year (which may not exceed 160 per cent of the annualised premium over the policy term).
• Indemnity commission, the amount of commission that can be advanced to a product salesperson, can be 50 per cent of the annualised premium for the first year or 50 per cent of the total commissions on the policy calculated.
• The remaining commission after deduction of the indemnity commission is paid equally over the premium payment term.
• For pure protection products, which only offer a life insurance component, the maximum commission will be 10 per cent of the annualised premium multiplied by the length of the policy in years.
Disclosure
Customers must now be provided with a full illustration of the product they are buying to ensure they understand the potential returns on savings products as well as the effects of any charges. There is also a “free-look” period of 30 days, where insurers must provide a full refund if the buyer wishes to cancel the policy.
“The illustration should provide for at least two scenarios to illustrate the performance of the product,” said Mr Hodgins. “All illustrations are required to be signed by the customer.”
Another illustration must outline surrender charges to ensure they understand the costs of exiting a fixed-term product early.
Illustrations must also be kept updatedand insurers must provide information on the top five investment funds available annually, including at least five years' performance data.
“This may be segregated based on the risk appetite of the customer (in which case, the top five funds for each segment must be provided),” said Mr Hodgins.
Product providers must also disclose the ratio of protection benefit to savings benefits. If a protection benefit ratio is less than 10 per cent "the product must carry a warning stating that it has limited or no protection benefit" Mr Hodgins added.
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
Saturday results
Qatar beat Kuwait by 26 runs
Bahrain beat Maldives by six wickets
UAE beat Saudi Arabia by seven wickets
Monday fixtures
Maldives v Qatar
Saudi Arabia v Kuwait
Bahrain v UAE
* The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
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OPINIONS ON PALESTINE & ISRAEL
