Ons Jabeur is a Tunisian professional tennis player who is the highest-ranked Arab player in WTA history. At the 2020 Australian Open, she became the first Arab woman to reach quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament.
At the Western & Southern tournament (held this year not in Cincinnati but at the US Open site in Flushing, Queens in New York City), Jabeur beat No. 7 Madison Keys in the Round of 32 (6-4, 6-1).
Jabeur grew up in a small town with a tennis club but it didn’t have it’s own courts so she trained on courts at nearby hotels. At the age of 12, she moved to the capital city of Tunis, where she trained at Lycée Sportif El Menzah.
She reached two junior Grand Slam girls’ singles finals at the French Open in 2010 and 2011, winning the title in the latter.
Today, the 25-year-old athlete — 5’6″, 146 lbs. — has been ranked No. 39 in the world. Jabeur is known to utilize outstanding slice and drop shots including backhand drop shots from the baseline or forehands up the line.
Jabeur has been working with coach Bertrand Perret since February 2018. She says many coaches have tried to change her game but not Perret.
On a personal note: Jabeur is married to Russian-Tunisian former fencer Karim Kamoun. She’s fluent in Arabic, English, and French, and is learning Russian because her husband speaks the language.
Her favorite tennis player as a child was American Andy Roddick. She admired him for “his serve and humor.” And when not on the court, Jabeur likes to play football (soccer) for fun. She’s a fan of Real Madrid FC.
After dispatching Keys, Jabeur faces another American at the Round of 16 at the Western & Southern — Christina McHale — on Tuesday, August 25 at approximately 2:50 pm on ESPN.
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