After a troublesome start to the year, Ons Jabeur is back on track and hoping to achieve new milestones in her career over the coming months.
The Tunisian kicked-off 2022 recovering from COVID-19 which she caught after playing in the Abu Dhabi exhibition where a series of other players also contracted the virus. Then to add to the frustration she was forced to withdraw from the Australian Open after failing to recover from a back injury. Since returning to action in February, she has won six out of 10 matches played prior to this week.
After a breakthrough 2021 season where she won her maiden title in Birmingham and reached a ranking high of seventh, Jabeur has her eyes set on a new goal this year. Her aim is to break into the world’s top five which has never been done before by an Arab tennis player. She is currently coached on the Tour by her compatriot Issam Jellali.
“Right now my desire is to win more titles, although I also want to reach the top 5 of the standings, these two things are key for us (my team),” said Jabeur.
“We are trying to work every day to improve every detail and boost myself in the ranking. I dream of being one of the five best players in the world and little by little we are achieving it”.
27-year-old Jabeur is a trailblazer for tennis in her region after achieving a series of firsts. She is the first Arab player to break into the top 10, the first to win a WTA title and the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals at Wimbledon. In her home country she has the nickname Wazeerat Al Sa’ada which translates to Minister of Happiness.
“It is incredible to see all the support I receive every week from the people of my country, I can’t believe it,” she said.
“When they see me, what everyone repeats to me the most is that they stay up until 03:00 in the morning to watch my games, they all blame me for waking up early, it’s a source of pride”.
‘Through my journey I try to inspire other generations to achieve their dreams as well. I always try to work very hard, although now the work is much harder than before if I want to keep moving forward. The most difficult thing is to maintain this high level, so I hope I can do it.” She added.
Jabeur is the fourth seed in Charleston this week. She started her second round match on Wednesday and was leading America’s Emma Navarro 6-3, 5-2, before the match was suspended due to poor weather.
