AWhen the world’s best tennis players gathered on the lawns of Wimbledon last summer, it quickly became apparent that Ons Jabeur was developing rapidly. Playing the best tennis of her life, she beat tough competition from Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina and Aryna Sabalenka , reaching the finals for the second consecutive time. She then reached the final and became the first African and Arab tennis player to win a single Grand Slam title.
Instead, she froze.
Suddenly, the championship was on the line and Jabr could barely play. Her feet were firmly tied to the turf and she struggled to get out of the net with a basic forehand pull. This is so painful. The Tunisian lost in straight sets to unseeded Matata Vondrousova, dropping her record in Grand Slam finals to 0-3. It would be easy to attribute Jabr’s intense performance to the extra burden she carries as a reference for hundreds of millions of people across her continent and region, but the reality is more personal.
“This loss is very difficult because it’s so connected to me as a mother and having a family. So it’s an extra sadness for me,” we say in a small room inside the Caja Mágica on the eve of the Madrid Open. Jabeur said during the conversation.
Jabr, whose career ranking of No. 2 is the highest ever achieved by an Arab or African tennis player, has been a vocal supporter of speaking out about her goals, which were particularly important at last year’s Wimbledon: She had envisioned herself winning Shortly after the championship, she left the sport to give birth to her first child with husband Karim Kamoun, who was also her physiotherapist.
This scene disappeared with her defeat.Their anguish was underscored by Jabbour explaining in her recent documentary This Is Me that she and Carmon cried “like babies” after the game Female athletes must make difficult choices between work and family. For now, the 29-year-old remains determined to pursue his dream of eventually lifting a Grand Slam title.
“That’s the way it is,” Jabr said. “I think it’s meant to be. Maybe I’m not ready to be a mother. Hopefully I can get that title because I really, really want it. Obviously it’s been a very difficult few months now and I will Trying to make it happen and hopefully one day I can be a mom and take my kids on tour. I’m not getting any younger and I feel like it’s important that I want to come back and take my kids on tour.
It took Jabr months to come to terms with the Wimbledon defeat, the most painful of her career, and a recurrence of a chronic knee injury this year has further undermined her form. Jaber, who started the year with a poor 3-7 record in Madrid, had considered taking a break during the first few weeks of the clay court season.
“I was in a really bad place and I didn’t think I could handle another loss,” Jabbour said. “But I was challenging myself and I thought: ‘Okay, I’ve never been in this situation before’, being a top player and losing a lot of games. But I said, and also looked at some quotes and everything, For me, having the courage to fail is a good thing.
“I think if you’re a coward, you’re not going to try. I don’t want to be a coward, I want to try and even if I lose, accept the failure with pride. That’s one of the things I’m proud of that I’ve done. The thing is, even though I have a lot of negative thoughts, I do take those negative thoughts and turn them into positive ones.
In addition to her diverse, highly entertaining style of play and trailblazing that defined her career, Jabbour also made some noteworthy moves off the court. She is a member of the executive committee of the Professional Tennis Players Association (PTPA), the controversial players association co-founded by Novak Djokovic. ambassador. One of her first campaigns was to address hunger and famine in Gaza.
“I have lived in war for 75 years,” Jabeur said. “Maybe some people don’t know that this war has been going on for a long time. I feel very sad about what is happening in Gaza, the Palestinian people don’t even have food, and the hospitals are not equipped enough to deal with the damage. I sometimes delete social media , because I can’t watch these videos anymore, it’s too much and it affects me.
“I think during that time in Cancun it really got the best of me. It was frustrating to see what happened, but I try to do my best through my platform and my role as World Food Ambassador. Any help you can. I hope the world can see what’s going on because it’s horrible and I don’t know how many people don’t talk about this.
The global nature of tennis means that it is often intertwined with geopolitics, as illustrated by the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on events on the tennis courts. The WTA issued a public statement after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, but has issued no further statements as Israeli airstrikes and ground incursions have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians. Jabbour said it’s not a common topic of conversation on tour.
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“No, Palestine, obviously there hasn’t been a lot of discussion about it,” she said. “But I saw some players coming up to me, giving me support and wondering what was going on in the world. Everybody knew and everybody wanted [for] Peace. I wish they would talk more about this issue, but, you know, politics is politics and obviously a lot of people are afraid to get involved in it.
Earlier this month, the WTA announced that its flagship year-end event, the WTA Finals, will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The decision was heavily criticized due to Saudi Arabia’s laws targeting LGBTQ+ people, stifling of dissent and spending billions on sports and entertainment to burnish its image. Just weeks after the ATP announced a deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, PIF’s branding is already visible across tournament venues and courts.
Jabr has always been enthusiastic about the prospect. She traveled to Saudi Arabia for the first time to attend the annual youth forum Misk Global Forum, where she played her first women’s tennis match against world number two Aryna Sabalenka last year. She considers the prospect of competing in Saudi Arabia important to her goal of using her success to inspire other Arab athletes, especially female athletes.
“Honestly, I’m always biased about the position here and the decisions they make,” Jabr told me at a news conference Saturday. “I’m happy to be there. As an Arab woman, I’m very proud of some of the things that are happening in Saudi Arabia. Obviously people may have different opinions. It bothers me that some people don’t know there are What is going on and no idea what is going on in Saudi Arabia just like Princess Reema. [ambassador to the US] Say, you should come to Saudi Arabia, be there, and judge for yourself.
“If they really don’t like it, they’re going to share their honest opinion. We’re not going to tell them that you really liked it or anything. Obviously I’d like to see better reviews. To me, it’s all about chance It’s about, going there not just to play a tennis match, but to give young women the opportunity to see their former role models and believe that they can achieve anything.
Despite the deterioration in form in tennis, players are quickly finding their way. It was Jabr’s first appearance at the Madrid Open since her biggest win here in 2022, and she beat ninth seed Jelena Ostapenko 6-0, 6-4 on Monday to advance to her first Madrid Open appearance. ’s third win, advancing to the quarterfinals. She had not won back-to-back games all year before.
In order to be successful and set a true example for aspiring young players, Jabbour believes it’s important to be as open and honest in these difficult times as you are in calm times.
“It’s a great life, but sometimes you’re traveling all the time, missing your family, getting sick in Madrid, hurting your knee. There are a lot of struggles, but how do you get through those struggles? How do you get through these difficult times? Because these difficult times do exist,” she said. “I’m not saying it’s impossible to succeed, but if you go through it, you become stronger, you become more patient.”
