Jabeur dismisses retirement talks: "When my mind and body tell me I'm ready, I'll come back"

Ons Jabeur wants to return to playing tennis, but she will decide when and where. The Tunisian, who has not touched a racket since her early exit at Wimbledon, shuts down retirement rumors but affirms she will be back when her body and mind are ready.

This was confirmed by Ons Jabeur herself in an interview with The National. The three-time Grand Slam finalist and former world number two in the WTA rankings spoke frankly about how her life has changed since her last match in July, as well as her recovery and comeback plans. One could say she is taking it slow but steady.

Ons Jabeur does not plan to retire and talks about her return to the WTA circuit

"My break is going very well. I am discovering a bit of life beyond tennis. I have been busy with various things: the foundation, the academy. I am also trying to launch new projects, so it has been very fun. But the first weeks were a bit strange. When your body is used to six or seven hours of training a day and suddenly you do nothing and practically just eat, go to the beach, and relax, I thought, 'What am I doing? What is this?' But then I became more creative, more active, started doing more things, and without a doubt, my favorite part was spending a lot of time with my family."

Tennis went from being a dream to becoming a nightmare

"Since I was six years old, my life has always revolved around my training, my tournaments, tennis, and I did not feel that, even if I did things outside of tennis, they were always related to tennis, or if I wanted to go on vacation, I always had to count the days because I did not want to miss any training. I wanted to return on time. I never freed myself from tennis. Trying to find something outside tennis that made me happy was difficult, and given the two tough years I had, it was not easy."

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"The happy place, where I find my joy, suddenly turned into my sadness and basically into the place that caused me depression. And I was somewhat scared, thinking, 'What if I never find joy on the tennis court again?' But I don't think it will be like that. And I am not retiring as most people think; I will return someday. I just want to enjoy it, and when my mind and body tell me you are ready, you want to come back, then I will return."

Overwhelmed by all the messages she received when she announced her break

"Whenever someone skips a tournament and decides to prioritize themselves, people think it's selfish and undeserved. But I received a lot of love, even from many mental health community members, who reached out to tell me it was a great decision because they saw I was suffering."

"Basically, other players saw themselves reflected in what I was feeling. And I felt that not only was I helping myself, but I was also helping them. For me, who almost always is smiling, making a decision like that and feeling shattered and sad was like saying, 'Wow. We didn't think Ons would feel like this.' I thought: 'Yes, after all, I am a human being'."

She will choose which tournaments to play and which not, and will continue fighting for the advancement of women's tennis

"I feel like I want to choose my tournaments. I want the schedule to adapt to me, not me to the schedule. Honestly, I will try to speak up more and make the tennis community treat us better as players, treat us more as human beings and not as tennis-playing robots all the time."

"This is a very beautiful sport, and we must be smart about it. And I just want to be myself on the court. I do not want to feel stressed. I have felt so good for the last two or three months that I am not stressed," asserts Ons Jabeur who has benefitted greatly from the break. So much so that she will decide when, how, and where she returns to the WTA circuit.
 

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Jabeur aleja los cantos de retirada: "Cuando mi mente y mi cuerpo me digan que estoy lista, volveré"