The Tunisian tennis pro – Ons Jabeur had a remarkable 2022 and she will hope to build on this in 2023.
Ons Jabeur began her season with a thumping win against Astra Sharma in the Sydney International. She defeated 2-time Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova in the following round. Jabeur had to retire during her quarter-final clash against Anett Kontaveit owing to a back injury. She was forced to pull out of the Australian Open owing to the injury.
Jabeur returned to the Dubai Tennis Championships and made the quarterfinals. During the tournament, she outplayed the talented Jessica Pegula with a stunning performance. Jabeur reached the quarterfinals of the Qatar Open. At the BNP Paribas Open, Jabeur was ousted in the round of 64. After an exit in the round of 16 in Miami, Jabeur finished runner-up at the Charleston Open. She lost to Belinda Bencic in the final.
Jabeur lost in the quarterfinals of the Stuttgart Open against No. 2 seed Paula Badosa. The wait for her second WTA Tour-level title ended at the Madrid Open. The Tunisian No. 1 defeated Jessica Pegula in the final to win her first title of the year. She followed it up with a run to the finals of the Italian Open. The Ksar El Hellar-born athlete lost to Iga Swiatek in a one-sided final.
Jabeur’s first Grand Slam campaign of 2022 ended on a disappointing note. She was ousted in the first round by Polish veteran Magda Linette in a closely-contested encounter.
Jabeur bounced back strongly to win her second title of the year after Belinda Bencic retired while trailing 6-3, 2-1 in the Berlin Open final.
The deep runs of Ons Jabeur in Wimbledon and the US Open
At the Wimbledon Championships, Jabeur created history by becoming the first African woman, and the first Arab or North African player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam singles final.
She defeated Tatjana Maria to achieve this feat. Jabeur was the overwhelming favorite against Elena Rybakina in the final but the experienced campaigner failed to close out the match after winning the first set.
Jabeur entered the Silicon Valley Classic as the third seed but her run ended in the quarterfinals after she went down to Veronika Kudermetova. She retired during her first-round match at the Canadian Open against Qinwen Zheng.
At the US Open, Jabeur was expected to have a deep run, but she exceeded the expectations of many en route to reaching her second consecutive Grand Slam final. Jabeur became the first African woman and the first Arab woman to reach the US Open final. She eventually lost to world No. 1 Iga Swiatek in straight sets.
Jabeur played in her country at the WTA 250 tennis tournament – Jasmin Open. She entered the tournament as the top seed but lost in the quarterfinals against Claire Liu.
Jabeur cut the WTA Finals for the first time in her career. She was pitted in a group alongside Aryna Sabalenka, Maria Sakkari, and Jessica Pegula. Jabeur lost to Sabalenka and Sakkari and her win against Pegula did not count for much. Jabeur’s season ended as she failed to qualify for the semis. However, she ended the year ranked No. 2 in the WTA rankings.
Jabeur played 64 singles matches this season. She won 47 and lost 17 with a win percentage of 73.44. She added two more titles to her trophy cabinet and earned prize money of $4,997,069 in the year.
More Tennis news
- Borna Coric 2022 – Net Worth, Salary, Records, and Endorsements
- Novak Djokovic’s brother makes Roger Federer promise ahead of Serbian Open
- Naomi Osaka responds to botching Jennifer Brady’s name after AO Open final win
Follow our dedicated Tennis page for instant Tennis news and updates
