By: Nina Samone
Ons Jabeur, 27, defeated Germany’s Tatjana Maria in three sets to advance to the Wimbledon Grand Slam Final – becoming the first African woman and Arabic player to do so.
Jabeur is from Tunisia and has become the first Tunisian to reach a WTA final, win a WTA final, rise to No.2 in the world and become a Grand Slam finalist.
“I don’t know what to say,” said Jabeur in an on-court interview. “it’s a dream come true… from years and years of work and sacrifice.”
The No. 3 seeded Jabeur made sure after the final set to share the moment with Tatjana Maria, who also happens to be her good friend. This moment was Maria’s first grand-slam semi-final, coming barely a year after the birth of her second child.
“I wanted to share the moment with her at the end… she is such an inspiration to me, coming back after two babies. I still can’t believe how she did it.”
Jabeur’s tennis success has been on a steady incline in recent years. According to ESPN, in 2020, she became the first Arabic woman to reach the quarterfinals at the Australian Open. She was also the first to break the top ten men’s or women’s rankings, first to a WTA title and first to appear at a Wimbledon quarterfinal.
Jabeur will face off against No. 17 seeded Elena Rybakina who defeated 2019 Wimbledon champion Simona Halep in their matchup earlier today.
Sources:
Associated Press. July 2022. ESPN. “Ons Jabeur into Wimbledon final, makes history.” <https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/34206099/ons-jabeur-wimbledon-final-makes-history>
July 7th, 2022. The Guardian. “Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab player to reach a grand slam final at Wimbledon.” <https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2022/jul/07/ons-jabeur-first-arab-african-woman-grand-slam-final-wimbledon-tatjana-maria-tennis>
