NEW YORK – Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur feels like a “zombie” due to an illness she has been dealing with, but the fifth seed is determined to soldier on at the US Open after battling past Linda Noskova 7-6 (9-7), 4-6, 6-3 on Thursday.
The 29-year-old suffered breathing difficulties during her gritty first-round win over Colombia's Camila Osorio and was also not at her best physically against Czech teenager Noskova, getting through the match in a little over two hours.
“I’m a zombie because I have a flu,” said Jabeur, who is chasing a maiden Grand Slam after losing back-to-back Wimbledon finals, as well as finishing as the runner-up at the 2022 US Open.
She admitted that she had been struggling for about a week with the illness and was “taking a lot of medicine”.
“I’m doing everything I can with my team, trying to recover,” she added. “They have amazing doctors here, so they’ve been helping me. I basically took every medication they have.
“I’m glad it was two matches, two tests. I was trying to push myself to see what I can do, getting out of the comfort zone. Hopefully, I’ll continue in better shape and feel better for the next match.”
With the victory, Jabeur has won 13 Grand Slam matches so far in 2023, the most she has won in a single year and surpassing her 12 victories from 2022.
She meets another Czech in Marie Bouzkova in the next round and is determined to continue her run.
“Emotionally I could be tired, but I know if I just let go I’ll regret it after, so I want to continue and stay in New York as long as I can,” she said.
“I have a lot of respect for Czech tennis school, in general. They really have amazing players.
“Another test against Marie. It’s going to be tough playing her, but I’m going to get ready and hopefully prepare well for the match. I think I’m going to use ‘warrior’ as a symbol for this tournament to continue until the end.”
Several players at 2023’s final Grand Slam have been hit by illnesses, including Austria’s Dominic Thiem, Chris Eubanks of the United States and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz.
Reuters has reached out to US Open officials about the illnesses and they said they were looking into it. ESPN said earlier this week that seven-time Grand Slam singles champion John McEnroe was absent from his analyst duties at Flushing Meadows after testing positive for Covid-19. REUTERS, AFP
