Ons Jabeur still an inspiration to Tunisians despite losing Wimbledon final

TUNIS – Tunisians thronged cafes hoping to watch local heroine Ons Jabeur win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon on Saturday but Czech Marketa Vondrousova had other ideas.

Sixth seed Jabeur ended up as runner-up, just like last July, after putting on an error-strewn performance against the unseeded Vondrousova, who won 6-4, 6-4.

Jabeur’s fans were disappointed but said the player dubbed the “Minister Of Happiness” remained a huge inspiration in her homeland.

“We were all waiting for Ons to win this title, which she deserves after a distinguished journey, but the defeat is painful,” Amine Khawaja, one fan watching in Tunis, told Reuters.

“It’s a painful loss but we are confident that Ons will be crowned with a title next year,” said another fan, Wael Ben Amara.

“We are proud of the ‘Minister Of Happiness’ of all Tunisians and Arabs,” he added.

Eight-year-old Aline El-Hechmi, who practises at the tennis club where Jabeur began her career, said: “I love this game and Ons made me more attached to it.

“I feel sad when Ons loses, as if I was the one playing, but now I feel happy and proud of what she is achieving. I want to become the next Ons,” she added.

Jabeur, now 28, began playing tennis at the age of four at the tennis club in Sousse.

“Since her early years in tennis, we have seen her technical capabilities that distinguished her from her peers,” Anis Jgham, who was her assistant coach at the beginning of her career, told Reuters.

He said that Nabil Mlika, Jabeur’s first coach, made her train with boys to develop her skills and performance.

“Ons possesses such a strong personality and high techniques since she was young,” he added, saying her rise through the sport had led to an influx of new players at the club.

“Everyone dreams that his son or daughter will be the next Ons Jabeur,” he said.

Jabeur described her third defeat in a Grand Slam final as the “most painful” of her career as she vowed to learn from the tennis greats who were also jinxed at the Majors.

Saturday’s defeat came one year after she lost the Wimbledon final to Elena Rybakina.

More agony followed at the US Open last September when she was runner-up again, this time to Iga Swiatek.

The 28-year-old is only the eighth woman to lose her first three Grand Slam finals.

However, she can take comfort from knowing that the likes of Chris Evert, Kim Clijsters and Simona Halep also suffered the same fate before going on to capture Grand Slam titles.

Former world No. 1 Clijsters lost the 2001 and 2003 French Open finals, the US Open title match in 2003 and the Australian Open final in 2004.

But the Belgian eventually ended her career as a four-time Major champion, winning her first in New York in 2005, followed by two more there in 2009 and 2010 and at Melbourne Park in 2011.

“I love Kim so much. She’s a great inspiration for me,” said Jabeur, who was consoled by Clijsters behind the scenes at Centre Court.

“The fact that she takes the time to give me advice and to really hug me, always be there for me, I think it’s priceless.

“She was telling me all the time she lost four. That’s why I know the information, otherwise would have been tough. But, yeah, that’s the positive out of it. You cannot force things. It wasn’t meant to be.”

The popular player also received a warm embrace from Kate, the Princess of Wales, who presented the trophies.

“She didn’t know if she wants to give me a hug or not. I told her hugs are always welcome from me. That was a very nice moment and she’s always nice to me,” Jabeur said. REUTERS, AFP