She could very much be the Arab world’s next big champion. Some would say the 18-year-old already is.
After all, no Arab or North African female had ever won a trophy at Roland Garros until a 16-year-old Ons Jabeur snatched the French Open girls singles title in 2011 to make history for the region and send a signal of intent to the tennis world.
The Tunisian teenager had made the French Open junior final the year before, but fell at the very last hurdle. When she returned the following season and went one better, it was starting to become clear what Jabeur was really made of.
The girl was resilient, had character, with a knack for coming to the net. But then came the big test of moving up the ranks to battle it out on the women’s tour and leave her junior days behind.
And Jabeur has successfully risen to the challenge. She started 2012 ranked 1209 in the world, but some strong showings on the ITF circuit have seen her rocket up the charts to land at No263, moving up almost a thousand spots in the WTA rankings.
It was obvious Jabeur meant business from her very first match last year when she took Virginie Razzano – a former world No16 who beat Serena Williams at Roland Garros 2012 – to three sets at the Qatar Open in February.
She followed that up with a straight-sets win over two-time Grand Slam semi-finalist and world No26 Jie Zheng, of China, in Dubai.
Jabeur ended her season with one final and four semi-final showings in ITF tournaments and managed to ace her exams in between. So far she’s been playing $25k Tournaments and she’s hoping to become a regular in the $50k and $75k events next season to advance in the rankings. But it’s going to be her final year of high school and she knows it’s going to be a challenge.
“I am working hard. I was studying all last year along with the tennis and I have school this year as well,” Jabeur says. “I’m going to try to win as many points as I can in the first four months. And then I’ll try to focus on school for a bit.
“I play a lot of tournaments and I study online. But now it’s getting tough, I’m doing my ‘Baccalauréat’ – French system – but once I finish it this year I can take a year off from studying and focus completely on my tennis. This will be my toughest year.”
Jabeur has a playful personality and will joke with anyone from a tournament official, to a fellow player, to a journalist. Yet that is not to be mistaken for complacency or being soft, for she has big dreams and is willing to put in the work.
She left the Justine Henin Academy in Belgium last summer and hired former top-50 ATP player Andrei Olhovskiy – a Russian who has worked with Elena Dementieva, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova and most recently Elena Vesnina.
“He’s very good. Hard on the court. I have a new fitness coach. We’ve been working really hard, I can’t feel my legs,” Jabeur adds with a laugh. “I’m happy. He’s professional. I think we can do a very good job together.”
Olhovskiy sees great potential in Jabeur, but says she needs to believe more in herself. Her being so nice is actually a concern for him.
“She needs to concentrate more but she already has a good game,” says Olhovskiy. “She’s a very nice person and maybe sometimes it’s too nice on the court.
“She needs to be a little bit stronger and believe in herself. If she starts to believe and continues playing and concentrating on the game, it’s going to be perfect.
“Her style of game is really special for the girls. That’s why I think in the future when she has a really good physical condition and more belief in herself, it’s going to be very tough for her opponents to play her. She has an unusual game I would say.”
Indeed Jabeur’s style is very refreshing to see on the women’s circuit. She charges to the net, mixes things up with slices and volleys, and does not seem to fear the more experienced opponents.
“I have a dream to be a top-10 tennis player,” says Jabeur. “Since I was young, I’ve always been competitive. Even when I was three-years-old, I would tell my mum and her friends, ‘I’ll beat you’.
“But I think I need more fitness because I have breathing problems, I don’t breathe well while I’m playing but I’m working hard. I enjoy having these kind of challenges.”
Tennis can often be a lonely sport and the constant travel and long seasons can sometimes catch up with a player, no matter how young or old they are. But Jabeur says when she goes through such moments, she just powers through.
She adds: “Any athlete gets some lonely moments. You feel choked and you need a break from tennis, but you can’t do anything about it. Just get over it and keep playing.
“Even if you find yourself losing back-to-back first rounds, you feel like it’s over, but you should never give up.
“You keep trying. If you get stuck in the tough times, you’ll never reach the happy times.”
The ever-smiling youngster has a rampant sense of humour and she says she loves to joke around.
But when asked about how the players of the WTA have a reputation of not being as outgoing with one another, Jabeur says: “I heard about that, I don’t know why and I want to change that.
“I’m the kind of person who likes to make jokes in the locker room.
“On court is another thing but we can be friends in the locker room.”
FACTFILE:
Born: August 28, 1994, Ksar Hellal, Tunisia.
Coach: Andrei Olhovskiy.
Favourite player: Andy Roddick.
Career moments – 2009: Made first final on the women’s ITF circuit at age 15 in Tunisia.
2010: Made French Open girls singles final.
2011: Won French Open girls singles title, becoming the first female from the region to win any title at a Grand Slam event.
2012: Accumulated a 31-16 win-loss record (made four semi-finals and one final).
Won Gold at the African Championships.
Represented Tunisia at the London Olympics.
Started the year ranked 1209 and ended it ranked 260.
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