Entering this year’s BNP Paribas Open Ons Jabeur has already achieved a series of firsts for an Arab tennis player. However, it is her latest achievement which has earned her praise from the likes of Andy Murray and Billie Jean King.
The 27-year-old Tunisian continued her fairytale run at the tournament on Thursday by defeating Anette Kontaveit 7-5, 6-3, to move into the semi-finals. In doing so she has guaranteed her place in the world’s top 10 next week for the first time in her career. It is a milestone which had never been achieved by an Arab player – male or female – in the history of the sport until now.
“This is a dream coming true,” said Jabeur. “I always wanted to get there, to be No. 1 in the world.’
“Top 10 I know 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, I deserve to be one of the top 10 players.” She added.
The breakthrough has been a long time coming for Jabeur who first rose to prominence a decade ago when she became the first North African player to win a junior Grand Slam title at the 2011 French Open. Since then she has steadily climbed the rankings. This year she won her maiden Tour title at the Birmingham Open, becoming the first Arab woman to do so. She also reached the final of tournaments in Chicago and Charleston, as well as reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon.
After establishing herself as one of the best players in the world, Jabeur admits her journey to the top has not been an easy one. Coming from a country such as Tunisia which doesn’t have such a comprehensive support system for tennis players was difficult. She explains that finding sponsorships was difficult at times with some not wanting to do deals with her due to where she came from.
“It is much different to come from my country than being American or French or Australian. They have not just the example of seeing players playing in front of you, but more tennis clubs and even more tournaments,” she said.
“I’ve been rejected by sponsors because of where I come from, which is so not fair. I didn’t understand why before. I accepted it. I dealt with it. I am really proud of the person I became today, just not relying on others.’
“Everybody probably had a difficult career. I’m not saying I have the most difficult one. I just wanted to really do this. It’s my dream. I didn’t want to depend on a sponsor or someone who doesn’t even care about tennis or doesn’t even care about sport in general.”
Those sponsorship difficulties are a thing of the past and it is likely Jabeur will attract more interest from companies following her entry into the world’s top 10. On social media various former Grand Slam champions have praised her latest milestone. On Twitter Andy Murray commented that Jabeur’s entry into the world’s top 10 was ‘very cool’ and Billie Jean King described her latest win as ‘historic.’
“It shows how important it is for me to achieve this. Being recognized by legends, honestly, it just gives me even more the power to work harder and be like them one day, maybe, a Grand Slam champion.” Jabeur said in reponse to those comments.
Coming into Indian Wells, achieving a ranking high wasn’t the first thing on her mind. Instead, it was trying to close in on securing a spot in the WTA Finals next month. She is currently ranked eighth, which is the final qualifying spot, in the WTA race after overtaking Naomi Osaka.
“I came here stressed a lot with the race. I know so many players were playing here. I really didn’t look much at the ranking, but I knew I was kind of not far,” Jabeur explained. “I was talking to my mental coach and I told her, this is too much. But I told her, I need to do this, I need to go through this to be able to win a Grand Slam one day. To go and win a Grand Slam, you need to kind of take this step.”
Jabeur is a win away from becoming the first Arab woman to reach an Indian Wells final and the first from an African country since Amanda Coetzer back in 1994. Standing in her way is Spain’s Paula Badosa who knocked out former champion Angelique Kerber in her quarter-final match.
“I always said she’s one of the most talented players in the world,” Badosa said of her Tunisian rival. “She’s having an amazing year. It’s nice seeing all these players that we were like a few years ago outside the top hundred now being top 10, top 20, fighting for the finals. It’s amazing. I’m super happy and I’m happy that I can play her.”
Earlier this year at the Miami Open Jabeur defeated Badosa 7-6(6), 5-7, 7-5, in what was their first Tour meeting since 2015.
