“I am a proud Tunisian woman standing here today”, savored Jabeur after his success in the semi-final on the London lawn against the German Maria Tatjana (6-2, 3-6, 6-1). At 27, she became the first North African and Arab to reach the final of a major tournament and never loses an opportunity to remember her origins.
After her victory in the final in Berlin in mid-June, the one who became world No.2 in the process convinced the tournament DJ to broadcast Tunisian rap. And even if she is now a celebrity, Jabeur does not forget either that she comes from a poor country, currently immersed in a serious political and economic crisis.
Before Wimbledon, she announced that her sponsor, Talan Tunisie, an IT company, would donate 100 euros each time she scored an ace or a “damping” during the tournament, to renovate a high school in a marginalized region. from the northwest of the country.
Last summer, the right-hander sold two of her rackets for the benefit of local hospitals, when Tunisia was overwhelmed by a particularly deadly wave of the Covid-19 epidemic. “It was a duty for me to help my country”she explained after having collected 27,000 dollars (about 23,300 euros).
In an interview with AFP a year ago in Tunis, she said to herself “very proud to represent an entire nation, Tunisia” at the Tokyo Olympics, as well as “Arabs and Africa”.
“Nothing is impossible”
The first time Jabeur burst onto the international screen was at the Australian Open in January 2020. At the time, she was 78th in the world and became the first player from a country in the Arab world. to qualify for the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, before losing to the American Sofia Kenin, future winner of the tournament.
In June 2021, she won the WTA 250 tournament in Birmingham, the first title on the main circuit for a North African player. By reaching the round of 16 at Wimbledon last year, she became “Onstoppable” for Tunisian Internet users, a play on words between her first name and “unstoppable”, “unstoppable” in English.
To AFP, she then explained that she had “gained in experience and confidence” from the Australian Open: “The other players started to be afraid to play against me (…) My way of playing reflects my personality”.
She confirmed at Wimbledon her taste for a daring game full of “changes of rhythm”in his column for the BBC: “I don’t like routine very much. I like to have fun and I like to smile. I really want to enjoy those moments, on and off the court”added the player, also known for her sense of humor.
Jabeur has a message for Tunisian youth: “nothing is impossible”. “During my career, many people have doubted my ability to reach this level, but my self-confidence and my work have allowed me to move forward”she also told AFP.
“A coffee at Roland Garros”
Born on August 28, 1994 in Ksar Hellal, the player of 1.67 m for 66 kg, started tennis very early, in Hammam Sousse, a chic suburb of the seaside resort of Sousse. At the age of three, his club’s only grounds are the tennis courts of neighboring hotels.
His coaches remember his rage to win and his determination. At 10, she told her mother that she would take her “one day have a coffee at Roland-Garros”told AFP his coach at the time, Nabil Mlika, 55. “She did it, it’s magic”.
At 12, the young prodigy joined the sports high school of El Menzah, in Tunis. “What we see on the field of Ons, the warrior, the combative who fights on all points, it has always been her character”recalled at the end of May to AFP, Omar Laabidi, a former comrade who was regularly beaten by the young prodigy.
Since her coronation at the age of 16 in the Roland-Garros junior tournament in 2011, she has left Tunisia. But she returns there regularly with her trainer Issam Jalleli and her husband and physical trainer, Karim Kamoun, both Tunisians.
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