Whenever Ons Jabeur finds herself in a difficult situation during matches, one of those people she thinks of to draw inspiration from is Billie Jean King.
The world No.2 paid tribute to the WTA co-founder following her historic win at Wimbledon where she became the first African woman to reach a major final in the Open Era after beating Tatjana Maria in three sets. Jabeur is currently on an 11-match winning streak and has already featured in four Tour finals this season coming into the All England Club.
She credits her team for aiding her rise on the Tour, as well as some useful advice she received from King who won an incredible 20 Wimbledon titles (including doubles) during her career. Jabeur spoke about the American great when asked about who inspired her in the sport.
“I loved watching Kim Clijsters. Serena Williams, Venus. Andy Roddick, I’m a huge fan of him. I’m still trying to learn about tennis history,” she replied.
“I met Billie Jean King. She’s an amazing inspiration for all of us. Really happy that she’s giving me some tips and pushing me to do better.”
So what were the tips she received from King?
“She told me to watch a lot of my matches, which I don’t usually do, because I don’t like seeing myself lose again, and learn from that,” she continued.
“She tells me one ball at a time and to focus on that. That’s what she was telling me lately. So I’m trying to do that. I always remember her during matches when I’m behind or something like that.”
Jabeur has dropped only one set in six matches played at Wimbledon so far. Before Maria, she also defeated 24th seed Elise Mertens and Marie Bouzkova. Until this week the 27-year-old had never gone beyond the quarter-final of a major event.
The breakthrough run is something Jabeur hopes will inspire those back in her country and in the wider world. At present, she is the only Tunisian woman in the world’s top 700. She has already achieved various milestones for her nation, including being the first to crack the top 10 last year.
“I want to go bigger, inspire many more generations,” she states.
“Tunisia is connected to the Arab world and is connected to the African continent. In the area, we want to see more players. It’s not like Europe or any other country. I want to see more players from my country, from the Middle East, from Africa.’
“I think we didn’t believe enough at a certain point that we could do it. Now I’m just trying to show that. Hopefully, people are getting inspired.”
Known by the nickname ‘minister of happiness’ back home, she will be hoping to set more milestones on Saturday when she plays Elena Rybakina in the final, who defeated Simona Halep in straight sets. She has beaten her twice last year but one of those was via retirement.
“Rybakina is an aggressive player. If you give her a little bit of time, she will take that away,” she said.
“I think she can play really good on grass because aggressive and changing the rhythm, they’re both styles I believe that is the most impressive on grass.’
“It’s going to be an interesting match, but I’ll try to make her work hard to earn her points.”
