Ons Jabeur defeated Venus Williams in the First round of the US Open

Ons Jabeur is a Tunisian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) of world No. 2, achieved on 27 June 2022. Jabeur is the current Tunisian number one, and the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in WTA and ATP rankings history. She has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as eleven singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Circuit. Jabeur was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023 and at the US Open in 2022, becoming the first Arab woman to contest a major singles final.

Who are some of her biggest rivals?

Some of her biggest rivals include Elena Rybakina, Iga Świątek, and Markéta Vondroušová, who have all defeated her in Grand Slam finals.

How did she start her tennis career?

Ons Jabeur was introduced to tennis at age three by her mother. She reached two junior major girls’ singles finals at the French Open in 2010 and 2011, winning the latter and becoming the first African or Arab to win a junior major since 1964. After nearly a decade of playing primarily at the ITF level, she started competing more regularly on the WTA Tour in 2017. She won the Arab Woman of the Year award in 2019. At the 2020 Australian Open, Jabeur became the first Arab woman to reach a major quarterfinal, a feat she repeated at the 2021 Wimbledon Championships.

Jabeur is known for her aggressive playing style and her ability to mix up her shots. She is also a very intelligent player who is always thinking several steps ahead. She is a popular figure in Tunisia and is seen as a role model for young girls.

In 2022, Jabeur had a breakthrough season. She won her first WTA title in Birmingham and reached the quarterfinals of Wimbledon and the semifinals of the US Open. She also finished the year ranked world No. 2, becoming the first Arab woman to achieve this ranking.

Ons Jabeur is continuing to improve and is one of the favorites to win a Grand Slam title in the near future. She is an inspiration to people all over the world and is proving that anything is possible if you set your mind to it.

Image credit

Hameltion, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons