French Open 2024: Ons Jabeur Reveals Her Shares of Struggles to Become an Established Tennis Player From Africa

Tunisian WTA star Ons Jabeur is moving mountains for her passion. Coming from a country with no such role models to look at, Jabeur’s clay court performance since 2022 has made a separate fan base. Now that she has entered Paris’s quarterfinals twice, Jabeur recalls how her identity as a pro tennis player was created with the efforts of her siblings.

Egyptian multimedia journalist Reem Abulleil shared her latest interview with Ons Jabeur, who reached the French Open’s quarterfinals for the second time. While being asked about her journey and feelings, Jabeur revealed the struggles she had to stand where she is right now in her career. “For me I wanted to play tournaments, even though, you know, I sometimes I had no idea what I was doing, you know, sometimes I,  I just went with the flow. I was losing a lot. But again, I didn’t give up”- she said.

This Tunisian tennis player defeated Danish WTA player Clara Tauson by 6-4 and 6-4 to enter Paris’s quarterfinals. Jabeur further spoke about how her brother and sister are also her biggest supporters and how they helped Jabeur fulfill her dreams. “You know, I, I told I always take money from, from my brother and sister and they didn’t approve most of the time, you know, the, the things that I was doing, you know, So I was like, don’t worry. Yeah, I’ll give you back, you know, and honestly, I had no idea how to give back at the time. It was like I was basically not making anything. But, don’t worry, I give back a lot., They are enjoying”- said Jabeur.

In 2022, this Tunisian WTA star dropped an outstanding performance. Not only did she win her debut WTA 1000 (Madrid Open) trophy but took over players like Maria Sakkari to reach the Italian Open’s finals against Iga Swiatek. Despite not making good progress in Paris, her Rome and Madrid performance brought her the world’s number two rank. Jabeur improved her game and reached Paris’s quarterfinals twice sharing how much it means to her.

“yeah., but you know at a certain time you, I believe you have to go through this to make you the player, who you are now, you know, and if I had to choose again to go through this, I would choose it a million of times because I believe that made me the player that I am today”- concluded Jabeur.

Nevertheless, this Tunisian WTA star made all of her fans extremely proud with her latest entry to the tour’s quarterfinals. She sang with the French crowd to celebrate her second entry to the round. However, she won the fraternity’s hearts once again while talking about another “fighter on the court” Coco Gauff.

Ons Jabeur finds her quarterfinal opponent Coco Gauff “really mature for her age”

Three-time Grand Slam finalist (Wimbledon 2022, 2023, and US Open 2022) Ons Jabeur also surprised her fans with her amazing compliment for her quarterfinal opponent. Jabeur defeated Clara Tauson by 6-4 and 6-4 in Suzanne Lenglen’s court and is prepping up to meet Coco Gauff in the next round. Speaking about her preparations, Jabeur impressed everyone with her compliments for the US Open champion.

“I love how Coco plays, and I love how Coco talks in general, I think she’s really mature for her age. She’s really an amazing person as well. It’s going to be definitely a difficult match. She’s such a fighter on the court. I hope I can play good and I can play my game because I know I can bother her as well. But it’s going to be definitely a great fight between us”- said the Tunisian WTA star.

Nevertheless, Ons Jabeur’s story is a testament to the success of all the hard workers out there. Jabeur struggled for a sport that she loved passionately and now she is being rewarded for that. Ons Jabeur’s story breaks the myth of calling tennis an elite sport, it shows that with the right intention, nothing is impossible.