Ons Jabeur wrote her name into the history books by clinching the Madrid Open title with a three-set victory over Jessica Pegula in Saturday's final.

The 27-year-old was bidding to become the first-ever African player to win a WTA Masters 1000 crown after battling past Simona Halep and Ekaterina Alexandrova into the final.

Jabeur did not get off on the right foot against Pegula, who found herself 4-1 up in the opening set but missed the chance to clinch a set point after the Tunisian had fought her way back into the battle.

Jabeur took the second set 7-5 before Pegula responded by serving her opponent a bagel, but the history-maker responded in the third to win the title with a 7-5 0-6 6-2 triumph.

The Tunisian fell to her knees before Pegula's long return had even come down as she clinched a second title on the WTA Tour, while she will also move up to seventh in the world rankings.

"First of all I have to congratulate Jessica, we've done a lot of hard work and when we play it's always a tough battle," Jabeur said during her trophy presentation.

"Congrats on an amazing week and I'm sure you're going to lift so many titles. We lost a lot of finals but I'm very happy I got the win today. I can't wait to come back next year and next time I promise I will learn more Spanish!"

Jabeur now boasts two wins from six career finals on the WTA Tour after triumphing at the Birmingham Classic last year, and Pegula's defeat will place her 11th in the rankings.

Meanwhile, the men's semi-finals got underway with Carlos Alcaraz's battle against Novak Djokovic after the 19-year-old had sent Rafael Nadal packing in the last eight.

The Spanish starlet once again produced a sensational result to knock out the world number one courtesy of a 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-5) victory, and the home crowd were behind him every step of the way.

Alcaraz has now become the youngest men's player to ever reach the final of the Madrid Open and revelled in the moment after posting back-to-back wins against the two leading Grand Slam players.

"I know that I played a really good game, and for the rest of the season I think I am able to play against the best players in the world and beat them as well, so it gives me a lot of confidence," Alcaraz said on his on-court interview.

The teenager will now take to the Manolo Santana Stadium for Sunday's final against either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev.