'Dreaming even bigger' ► Jabeur ‘honored’ to represent Africa as Wimbledon dream ends
Ons Jabeur will not be lifting the Wimbledon women’s singles trophy this year but she said she was “honored” to have represented Africa with such style and gusto.
Aryna Sabalenka ended Jabeur’s historic run at Wimbledon, the second-seeded Belarus player’s power getting the better of the guile of the Tunisian 6-4, 6-3 in 74 minutes.
Jabeur, though, took a lot of positives from the remarkable last few weeks which saw her become the first Arab woman to win a WTA event – the grass-court tournament in Birmingham.
She then beat three former Grand Slam title winners – Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek – on her run to her second Grand Slam quarterfinal.
“I’m honored,” she said about representing Africa at such a huge profile global sports event. “Also trying to represent a whole continent for me is very important.
“I try to behave well and give the right example for the young generation, for people following.
“We’re going through tough times in Tunisia with COVID and everything.
“I’m glad that I’m giving positive thoughts to people there.”
Jabeur departs having lost in her second Grand Slam quarterfinal – the 2020 Australian Open being the previous one – a “barrier” she hopes to get across next time.
However, the 26-year-old has done wonders in her goal to use her exploits to encourage young Arab women – especially North African – to take up the sport.
“I know that since 2011, since I won the junior Roland Garros title, I know that there are many girls wanted to play tennis and are dreaming more,” said Jabeur. “I feel like I’ve been carrying a great message trying to represent my country as best as I can.
“I think right now they are dreaming even bigger and they want to be here, they want to be me and follow in my steps.”
She admitted that to get to where she is now has taken a lot of resilience to overcome setbacks.
“Maybe one of them was 2018, I started really bad the season, winning no matches,” she said after her victory over Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
“I was doubting myself a lot. I think early in my career, after the juniors, when I didn’t see the results that I wanted, when I was seeing the juniors that I played with breaking the top 50, top 40,it was very difficult for me. “I’ve worked hard to earn my place here. “I just want to give the example for many generations coming from North Africa, from my country, from the African continent, that it’s not impossible, that we can do it.”