"This season is a miracle": Ons Jabeur looks for positives as run towards WTA Finals continues despite Beijing exit to Kostyuk

Ons Jabeur called this season a 'miracle' and said that after a year which started with injuries that everything following that was a bonus including winning the Ningbo Open last week.

This was despite crashing out early in Beijing following it which Jabeur pays no mind to.

“We started the season not knowing if I could play, and now I’m racing to play the WTA Finals,” Jabeur told wtatennis.com before this week’s China Open in Beijing. “[Melanie] was telling me, `It’s a bonus.’

“And she’s right. I think this season is weird, special -- everything at the same time. I really try to enjoy it and appreciate it. I’m someone who believes in destiny a lot, so I believe it was meant to be like this. It will teach me a lot of things.”

Winning the Ningbo title was almost a twist of fate as Jabeur had issues with luggage arriving and also poor results meant that she took a wildcard to a tournament initially not on her list.

“My tennis racquet did not arrive,” Jabeur said.. “If I lose my bag, I believe I’m going to win the tournament. They said they couldn’t find it, but it was good -- they sent it back. I knew it was going to be a good thing for me in that tournament.”

It was also the first hard court title of Jabeur's career which was what her brother messaged her about before the match.

“Is it?” she said. “I looked it up and it’s true. I really forgot about it for a while. I didn’t want to focus on it to make it extra pressure. Because I think I have enough already with the WTA Finals and the ranking.

“For me, maybe it isn’t my favorite because I don’t have enough time to prepare for the courts and the tournaments. It’s just a little bit in the head sometimes. I’m someone who likes to take their time on the court.”