"Rest is the word for me" - Ons Jabeur gives update on post-Wimbledon plans after retiring during first round match
WTA
It was a day to forget for Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur at the 2025 Wimbledon Championships, as she saw her dreams of making it far at SW19 come crashing back to earth after retiring during her first round match.
The former two-time Wimbledon runner-up faced Bulgarian Viktoriya Tomova in the opening round on Monday. A tightly contested first set went Tomova's way after a tiebreaker, and the Bulgarian was shocked to find herself through to the second round after Jabeur retired when trailing 0-2 in the second set.
Jabeur hoping to spend some time away from tennis after Wimbledon
The former World No.2 struggled with the heat during the match, as she received a medical timeout to have her blood pressure checked. The 30-year old was unable to continue, and while she did not attend her post-match press conference, Jabeur did update her fans on her status and health via a message on social media.
"I wasn’t expecting not to feel good," admitted Jabeur. "I’ve been practicing pretty well the last few days, but I guess these things happen. I’m really sad. It doesn’t help me with my confidence and what I keep pushing myself to do, even though it was a very tough season for me. So I hope I’m going to feel better, and we’ll see what’s going to happen.
“Definitely try to disconnect a little bit from tennis and just try to enjoy life outside tennis, recover and spend a little bit of time with the family, and hopefully that could recharge. Definitely ‘rest’ is the word for me."
“Definitely try to disconnect a little bit from tennis and just try to enjoy life outside tennis, recover and spend a little bit of time with the family, and hopefully that could recharge. Definitely ‘rest’ is the word for me."
After turning pro in 2010, Jabeur has reached three Grand Slam finals, Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023, and the 2022 US Open. However, the five-time WTA titlist is yet to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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