Jabeur and the recipe to return to her best level: "It's about believing in myself more than ever"

Andrés Tomás Rico | 30 Jun 2025 | 14.00

Jabeur and the recipe to return to her best level: "It's about believing in myself more than ever." Photo: Gettyimages.

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Ons Jabeur is not going through her best moment in tennis. The Tunisian, who in recent years was well established in the top 10 and reached number two in the world, is currently ranked 60th in the WTA Ranking, without titles or finals in 2025 so far. Now she returns to Wimbledon, a place where she has experienced the best and the worst of tennis. In 2022 and 2023, she was one of the top contenders for the title, reaching the final in both editions, but she fell at the final hurdle on both occasions, missing the chance to secure her first Grand Slam.

In just two years, that intensity and fighting spirit that characterized Jabeur have faded. Her name is no longer seen in the final rounds of tournaments and now it is more common to see her exit in the early rounds. The Tunisian is fully aware of this, as she admitted in a statement published by 'The National'.

A "very tough" year

"I try to find that freedom when I'm playing and the joy when I'm playing. It has been a tough year, I would say. But yes, it is what it is. I try to repeat some positive words to myself. I don't want to carry the disappointment from before and hope to move forward," confessed the double finalist, who unfortunately arrives outside the title contenders.

Jabeur also pointed out that she comes to this edition of Wimbledon "without expectations" and hints at the main cause of this setback in her sports career: "It's always, I believe, something mental. Because if you are mentally prepared and willing to do everything, I think it is easier to overcome any physical struggle or whatever it may be. But yes, being off and on didn't help much. "The ability to believe in myself that I can return to how I was before has been a bit low, and that affected me a lot".

If the mental aspect has been the reason for her crisis, it also has to be the area where she has to reinforce her tennis again: "It's about believing in myself more than ever because returning to a certain level is never easy. So I hope to overcome it. Sometimes, two or three matches give you the confidence and the ability to know that you can do it. Right now, I need to trust my body more. I need to improve on the court and find my movements," conveys the African tennis player.

While she may not be experiencing her best time on the circuit right now, Jabeur has taken the opportunity to champion other aspects surrounding her sport. One of these has been the staunch defense of women's tennis, especially during the recent Roland Garros, where the controversy over not featuring women's draw matches in the nighttime schedule further fueled her fire, leading her to write a strong statement on social media.

"I couldn't stay silent anymore. I've seen many negative comments and, especially after talking about the French Open and the night sessions and some tweeting about empty seats, I said to myself: 'You don't understand anything. You don't know what's really going on'. It's like a bunch of ignorant people. And I couldn't keep it inside anymore. It's frustrating for me as a woman, for any female athlete worldwide, and I want to be part of the people who speak clearly. I don't want to stay quiet," asserts the 30-year-old tennis player.

However, the issue of women's tennis is not the only one she has defended. Being Arab, she couldn't remain silent amid the indiscriminate bombings in Gaza by Israel: "My heart is always with Gaza because their situation is getting worse and I feel that people are forgetting about them. I hope that changes and the world wakes up and tries to open borders, bring them food. Do something. I feel like no one is doing anything. I feel like civilians always pay the price for the crazy decisions politicians make. And I wish for peace everywhere. My heart is with the children, women, and men who die there every day. Not only are they killed, but they are also being starved, which is very inhumane."

The Tunisian is appalled by the current situation in Gaza and the world in general: "It's 2025, and the world isn't changing. I feel like they are not doing anything about it. It's very sad. I hope everything stops and all wars... It's a pretty scary world right now. I'm very scared all the time. I just watch the media and feel like it's heating up everywhere," laments Jabeur, who may not be having her best sporting moment but is up to date on the most demanding issues.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jabeur sigue de bajón, pero no tira la toalla: "Se trata de creer en mí misma más que nunca"

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