Ons Jabeur sets sights on Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships crown

DUBAI: Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur will arrive at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships later this month as a genuine contender for the title as her career continues to go from strength to strength.

When the 27-year-old first competed in the tournament, she was a qualifier ranked 1169. That was in 2012. Now, in 2022, she arrives having climbed as high as seventh in the world on the back of so many achievements that have made her not only an icon in the world of Arab sports but an opponent to be feared at any tournament she enters.

“The progress that Ons Jabeur has made since her first appearance at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships has been remarkable,” said Colm McLoughlin, executive vice chairman and CEO of Dubai Duty Free. “Not only has she established a number of milestones in the sport, but she has done so while also being one of the most popular players on the WTA Tour. We very much look forward to seeing how much further she progresses, not only this month in Dubai but throughout the season, and we wish her every success.”

Jabeur has certainly made her mark in Dubai. In 2019, she stretched defending champion Elina Svitolina to a first set tiebreak before having to retire in the second set with a right shoulder injury. In 2020, she held match point against eventual champion Simona Halep before the world No. 2 squeezed through in a final set tiebreak. And last season, Jabeur overcame 2020 finalist Elena Rybakina in the second round.

She had shown promise at an early age by reaching the junior Grand Slam final at the French Open in 2010 and then again in 2011, when she claimed the title to become the first Arab player to win a junior Grand Slam singles title since Ismail El Shafei won the Wimbledon boys’