Jabeur, Badosa into Indian Wells semis

Ons Jabeur will become the first Arab player to crack the world tennis rankings' top-10 after reaching the Indian Wells semi-finals, and the Tunisian says she is just getting started.

Jabeur defeated Estonia's Anett Kontaveit 7-5 6-3 in Thursday's quarter-final in the California desert, converting five of her 12 break-point chances on the way to her 48th match win of the season, the most of any player on the Tour this season.

"Like this is a dream coming true. This is something that I've been wanting ... when I was 16," Jabeur said.

"Top 10 is the beginning. I know I deserve this place for a long time since I was playing well. But I want to prove that I deserve to be here."

The 27-year-old, currently ranked 14th, reached the final of the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic earlier this month and became the first Arab player to win a WTA title at the Birmingham Classic in June.

Jabeur, who will face Paula Badosa in her first WTA 1000 semi-final, said she faced many obstacles in her career because of her background.

"I've been rejected by sponsors because of where I come from, which is so not fair," she said.

"I didn't understand why before, I accepted it. I am really proud of the person I became today, just not relying on others."

In the final four she'll face world No.27 Badosa, who also took 86 minutes to seal her progress.

The 23-year-old Spaniard was a 6-4 7-5 winner against 2019 finalist Angelique Kerber of Germany.

Indian Wells is Badosa's second WTA 1000 semi of the season, having advanced to the same stage at the Madrid Open in May.

The first semi-final on Friday will see former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus take on Latvian Jelena Ostapenko.