With the grass-court season in full swing, players and fans are setting their sights on the prestigious Wimbledon Grand Slam. As anticipation builds, discussions about potential title contenders are heating up, and everyone seems to have their favorites. Among the voices chiming in is Canadian tennis star Eugenie Bouchard, who has thrown her support behind Tunisian sensation Ons Jabeur.

World No. 10 Jabeur has proved her mettle on the grass court. Two of her five WTA titles have come on grass, in Berlin (2022) and Birmingham (2021). However, despite her impressive track record, she has failed to lift a Grand Slam at the Grass court. She reached the finals of Wimbledon twice in 2022 and 2023 but lost to Elena Rybakina and Markéta Vondroušová respectively. Despite Jabeur’s heartbreaks, her Canadian counterpart believes in her resilience. 

At the Tennis Channel Live Podcast, Bouchard talked about Jabeur’s potential. She recalled her previous warm-up match with the Tunisian and highlighted the baffling defeat that she faced. “Look, I practiced with Ons Jabeur last year in Berlin, and I didn’t win a game. I’m not going to tell you what the final score of the practice set was but I did not win one.”

Continuing further, Bouchard called Jabeur a top contender on grass. “She has that variety she can control the ball and control the points the way she wants to and it’s so fun to watch and also by the way, a great girl a great person and so we really want to see her breakthrough unfortunate ending here but you can’t count her out no matter what.” 

Jabeur recently announced that she wouldn’t be featuring in the Olympics this year as she wanted to prioritize her health over anything else and didn’t want to risk her fitness considering her busy schedule.

‘Unfortunately, I will not be able to…’ Ons Jabeur opens up on her season plan

Despite expressing her desire to represent her country on the grand stage, Jabeur won’t be playing in the Paris Olympics, much to the disappointment of her fans. In a post that Jabeur shared on social media, she confirmed her absence in Paris.

“After consulting with my medical team regarding attending the Olympics in Paris, we have decided that the quick change of surface and the body’s adaptation required would put my knee at risk and jeopardize the rest of my season. Unfortunately, I will not be able to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” Jabeur’s post read.

Jabeur’s decision highlights the Canadian player’s desire to perform well at the Grand Slam events. As the US Open is scheduled soon after the Paris Olympics, there will be a transition from clay to hard court. Besides, Jabeur has a pretty impressive track record on the hard court, having played in the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2020 and the US Open finals in 2022. That’s probably why she wants to go into the US Open at peak fitness.

Meanwhile, it will be interesting to see if Ons Jabeur can defy the odds and cross the final hurdle at Wimbledon this time, especially after her recent Quarterfinal defeat at the Nottingham Open. Can Jabeur clinch the Wimbledon title after two consecutive upsets? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.