Tunisia's Ons Jabeur celebrates winning a point against Spain's Garbine Muguruza during the women's singles third round match on day five of the Wimbledon Tennis Championships in London, on July 2, 2021.Kirsty Wigglesworth/The Associated Press
When Ons Jabeur steps on to the court at Wimbledon on Monday she’ll be playing for more than a shot at the quarter-finals.
The Tunisian is one of the few top tennis players from Africa and she’s become a trailblazer for Arab women. Her career has already been filled with firsts. She’s the first Arab woman to make it to the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, the first to reach the top 50 and the first to win a Women’s Tennis Association title. If she wins on Monday, her world ranking will move into the top 20 from 24th, another first.
“I hope that so many young [people] are watching and I can inspire them,” the 26-year-old said Friday after coming from behind to beat two-time Grand Slam champion and former world No. 1 Garbine Muguruza 5-7, 6-3, 6-2.
“It means a lot.” she said of her run at Wimbledon. “Especially with so many Arab people watching me and supporting me. … It’s an honour to always represent Tunisia.”
Her accomplishments are all the more remarkable considering that she grew up in Sousse, a small coastal town where tennis was largely confined to tourist resorts. She was introduced to the sport when she was three by her mother Samira, who played the game for fun at a local club.
Ms. Jabeur started competing at six and by the time she was 10 she was appearing at international tournaments. After training locally for years she moved to Tunis as a teenager to attend the Lycée Sportif El Menzah, a national academy for up-and-coming athletes. She spent some time honing her skills in Europe but always returned to her homeland and proudly calls herself “a 100-per-cent Tunisian product.” Even now she draws coaching and moral support from her family and her husband, Karim Kamoun, who serves as her trainer.
Ms. Jabeur’s breakthrough came in 2010 when she made the girls’ final at the junior French Open. She lost but made the final again the following year and this time won, becoming the first Arab woman to claim a junior Grand Slam championship. In 2017 she made the third round of the French Open and last year she reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open. She came into Wimbledon after advancing to the fourth round at Roland Garros and winning the Birmingham Classic, a grass-court tune-up event.
The success has made her a hero in Tunisia. She’s fielded calls from the President and her exploits last week at Wimbledon made front-page news. Now there’s talk she’ll be the country’s flag bearer at the Tokyo Olympics.
Ms. Jabeur “is just breaking down barriers,” Venus Williams said last week just before losing to the Tunisian in the first round 7-5, 6-0. “I just think you’re going to see a whole other generation of women from North Africa or wherever coming into tennis. It’s going to be all owed to her. I think she’s inspiring so many people, including me.”
Ms. Jabeur didn’t watch much tennis growing up and she had few mentors. Only five other players from the Arab world have made it into the top 100 and the only female – Selima Sfar, who is also from Tunisia – got as high as 75th.
The one player she did admire was former world No. 1 Andy Roddick, the notorious American bad boy who famously berated umpires, reporters and opponents. When Mr. Roddick duelled with Roger Federer at Wimbledon in 2004, 2005 and 2009, Ms. Jabeur was pulling for the firebrand. “I was shooting for Andy because he’s my favourite player. Yeah, always looked up to him,” she said.
Ms. Jabeur’s playing style can’t match Mr. Roddick’s but she’s shown flashes of irreverence and joy – such as bouncing the ball soccer-style between points – that have made her a crowd favourite at Wimbledon.
The match against Ms. Muguruza was vintage Ms. Jabeur. She fell behind early and struggled to break the Spaniard’s serve, failing on 24 attempts. Ms. Jabeur got so nervous that she threw up in the corner of the court. But as the match wore on her confidence grew and in the third set she rattled off 16 straight points, the longest scoring streak on centre court since 2002. She also wowed spectators with a plethora of risky drop shots and a stunning return that went around the net post and lit up social media.
She told reporters afterward that her coaches have tried repeatedly to get her to cut down on the drop shots. “I’ve always been stubborn and never listen to the coach when they tell me not to do a drop shot,” she said with a smile. “Listen, it’s a tricky shot, it’s a good shot.”
Ms. Jabeur acknowledged that being the only Arab woman on the tennis tour wasn’t easy and coming from a Muslim country she’s faced pushback from some conservatives over her outfits. But most people have been overwhelmingly supportive, she said, and she’s determined to set a positive example. “Hopefully, you never know. Maybe now someone is watching and wants to be here in my place,” she added. “I just want to say if I did it, it’s not impossible.”
Ms. Jabeur, the 21st seed, plays seventh-seed Iga Swiatek of Poland on Monday.