Ons
Jabeur revealed that she postponed motherhood after her defeat in the 2023
Wimbledon final. The 29-year-old Tunisian had planned to take a break from
tennis to become a mother if she won her first Grand Slam title, but she fell
decisively to the non-seeded
Marketa Vondrousova.
That
was Jabeur's third loss in Slam finals, having previously faltered in the 2022
edition against
Elena Rybakina and against
Iga Swiatek in the 2022
US Open. The
former world No. 2 entered the final against Vondrousova as the clear favorite
after consecutive victories over four former Grand Slam champions: Bianca
Andreescu,
Petra Kvitova, Rybakina, and
Aryna Sabalenka.
Jabeur's
continued quest for Grand Slam glory
Jabeur
had the opportunity to make history as the first African or Arab tennis player
to win a Grand Slam title, and it was a perfect closure before pausing her
career to become a mother, as she recalled in an interview with The Guardian:
"That loss was very difficult because it was connected to me being a
mother and having a family. So that was an extra sadness for me."
Jabeur
has been married to Karim Kamoun since 2015, a former fencer who is now her
fitness coach. The Tunisian mentioned in her recent documentary "This is
Me" that she and Kamoun cried "like babies" after the defeat,
but she is still focused on pursuing her dream of becoming a Grand Slam
champion.
“It is what it is,” Jabeur said. “I think it
was meant to be. Maybe I’m not ready to be a mum yet. Hopefully I can get that
title because I really, really want it. Obviously now coming from a couple of
very difficult months, I will try to get there and hopefully one day I can be a
mum and bring my kid to the tour. I’m not getting any younger and I feel like
it’s important that I want to come back and have my kid with me on tour.
Jabeur boasts a record of 17-6 (74%) in Wimbledon
“I was in a super-bad zone and I think I
couldn’t handle another loss,” she added “But I was challenging myself, I was
like: ‘OK, I’ve never been in this situation before,’ in being a top player and
losing a lot of matches. But I said, also looking at some quotes and
everything, for me it’s good to dare to fail.”
“I
think if you’re a coward, you will not go and try. I didn’t want to be a coward
and I wanted to try, even losing but taking the loss with pride. That was one
thing that I was proud of myself for doing, even though I had a lot of negative
thoughts. But it happens, I do accept these negative thoughts and turn them into
positive ones,” Jabeur concluded.