The Tunisian tenniswoman and world number 2, Ons Jabeur, has not finished surprising. First African to win the Madrid tournament last May, she will try, at Wimbledon, to exceed her record, the quarter-finals of the tournament...
Nicknamed "the minister of happiness" by her compatriots, Ons Jabeur has won all the women's tennis records in Tunisia, Africa and the Mena region. The Tunisians knew her when she won Roland-Garros Junior in 2011. The following year, she joined the Association of Tennis Players (WTA). Since Monday, she is the world number 2.
This Wednesday, Ons Jabeur recovered from his brutal elimination in the first round of the last Roland-Garros. She is in London until July 10, where she is playing the Wimbledon tournament. This Wednesday, June 29, she qualified brilliantly (6-4, 6-0) in the third round, where she will face the French Diane Parry. Ons Jabeur is one of the favorites of the tournament. If she wins Wimbledon, she will take a comfortable lead in the WTA rankings, and may even try to steal the world number one spot from Poland's Iga Świątek.
If the defeat of Ons Jabeur at the last Roland-Garros is largely due to fatigue and stress from having chained too many tournaments, the Tunisian arrives at Wimbledon prepared. She would have received advice from her doubles partner at Eastbourne, favorite sparring partner, and 7-time Wimbledon champion: Serena Williams.
And it shows, in two matches, Ons Jabeur has lost only eight games. As for his opponent this Wednesday, Katarzyna Kawa, the case was completed in less than an hour.
Ons Jabeur more determined than ever
Last year, at Wimbledon precisely, Ons Jabeur recorded his best results in the WTA, and reached the quarter-finals before losing. But since then, Jabeur has taken the bottle, winning Madrid and Berlin. She also reached the Charleston and Rome finals, where world premiere Iga Świątek won.
But the Tunisian tenniswoman intends to have her revenge. "I won't make the same mistake twice," she said. And to continue: “I hope that the next step will be the world number one. It will be difficult, but not impossible. Obviously, Iga (Świątek) is a bit far from us now… I'll do my best to catch up with her. (…) The most important thing is that I have the level to be the first. I really want to deserve this place”.
Couldn't be clearer. Ons Jabeur is ambitious, physically powerful and technically surprising, especially on the grass where her drop shots are infallible.
It also has the merit of attracting more and more Tunisians to tennis, some of whom simply watch to follow its matches. Many came to watch it live from elsewhere. And she pays them back, insisting that Tunisian music be played to celebrate her victories, and sometimes spending more than an hour signing autographs before leaving the field.
But, above all, it is his permanent smile that earned him his nickname of “Minister of Happiness”.
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The journey continues! Yalla! #TeamOJ 💪🇹🇳 pic.twitter.com/E3RscsUc8N
— Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) June 29, 2022