?I Was Joking With Djokovic?- Ons Jabeur Reveals the Conversation She Had With Novak Djokovic Right Before the Wimbledon Final

Ons Jabeur the Tunisian tennis ace made history in this year’s Wimbledon Championships. She became the first Arab player ever to reach a Grand Slam final by claiming victory over Tatjana Maria in the semifinal.

While the world no.2 geared up to take the biggest trophy home, she spoke about consulting the men’s defending champion. Jabeur admitted to taking some tips from Novak Djokovic, who is seeking his fourth consecutive title this year.

Ons Jabeur about taking Djokovic’s advice

The Madrid Open champion suffered a first-round exit in Paris. However, she seemed to have found her form in this season’s grass-court major. Being just a step away from sealing complete dominance in the tournament, Jabeur decided to turn disciple to the six-times Wimbledon men’s champion. She said, ” [On court], last time I was thinking about pressure, it didn’t work very well for me. I’m trying to handle it.”

“The learning: obviously I’ve never been in this situation before. I was joking with Djokovic. I told him, ‘Give me some of the touch to win Wimbledon.’ I was stealing it.”

“Obviously, I want to turn that great pressure into great things on the court. Like I said, I just want to be like a great leader,” she added.

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In the men’s semifinals, after Nadal’s unfortunate withdrawal, Djokovic battled past the home favorite, Cameron Norrie, to secure his spot in the finals. Now the 20-time Grand Slam champion will clash with the Australian tennis ace Nick Kyrgios at Centre Court on 10th July for his seventh grass-based Grand Slam title.

Jabeur in the finals

The Tunisian no.1 survived a tournament which took down Serena Williams and current World No.1 Iga Swiatek in the initial rounds. She reached the last round, defeating almost every opponent in straight sets. However, she failed to clinch her first Grand Slam trophy. Jabeur squared off with the Kazakhstan tennis ace Elena Rybakina, the first from her nation to reach the summit at Wimbledon.

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Rybakina, who thrashed the 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in the semis to advance in the tournament, got the better of the 27-year-old in a three set long match. Jabeur, who seemed to have a grip on the match in the first set, lost the finals in three sets of 6-3, 2-6, 2-6.