Ons Jabeur finally got her first win in some time on Wednesday defeating a tricky operator in Ekaterina Alexandrova in three sets 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in a real confidence booster for the Tunisian who is seventh seed this week.
Jabeur will face Jasmine Paolini shortly and said that after Miami where she was dumped out by Elina Avanesyan that she was heartbroken and that she considered skipping Charleston. But even playing that she saw positives from a fairly chastening experience as she was thumped by Danielle Collins albeit in three sets and was the only player that tournament to trouble the new forerunner.
“I think it's not losses but, like, just not winning any matches. And I really thought about not even playing Charleston, because after Miami I was heartbroken," said Jabeur.
"I thought I was trying to play, and my level wasn't there, you know. But I have a great team behind me, kept pushing me. It's, like, it’s okay. I was, like, Okay, you either be a coward, go back home and not face, like, the reality of what's happening right now, or just, okay, go there, try everything. You lose, you lose; you win, you win. And I lost again, obviously (smiling). But again, the same thoughts, the same negative thoughts, even though it was a really positive match against Collins.
"I'm the only one that got a set out of her (smiling). But when you're in such a bad position, losing, losing, your brain tries to focus on the negative thing. I was, like, switching, trying to be positive in that, but I think losing a lot of times in a row, that's the difficult part. But if I, like, win two matches and lose, that's better. Not the best, but at least better.”
Jabeur says she thought about skipping Charleston because not winning matches has been hard on her, ‘You either be a coward or you go there & try everything’ “And you said that you thought about not wanting to take the court here because you didn't want to take another loss. Do…
