Who Is Ons Jabeur? First African And Arab Female Player To Reach US Open Semi-Finals

Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur has become the first African and Arab female tennis player to reach the US Open semi-finals. In July, Jabeur also became the first woman from Africa to reach the final at Wimbledon.

The 28-year-old Ons Jabeur is currently ranked as the number one Tunisian player and is the highest-ranked African and Arab tennis player in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) and the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) ranking history.

Who Is Ons Jabeur?

• Ons Jabeur was first introduced to tennis when she was three years old. Her mother Samira played tennis and introduced her to the sport.
• Jabeur began training when she was 4 years old under coach Nabil Mlika. When she turned 12, Jabeur moved to Tunisia’s capital city Tunis and trained at Lycee Sportif El Menzah, a national sports high school for up-and-coming athletes.
• Jabeur won three singles titles on the WTA Tour, 11 singles on the ITF Women’s Circuit and one doubles title on the ITF Women’s Circuit.
• As of August 2022, Jabeur is ranked at number 5 in the WTA singles ranking. Her highest ranking by WTA was when she was ranked number 2 in June 2022.
• In 2008, Jabeur began playing on the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Women’s Circuit when she was 14.
• Two years later, she won her first title at the singles event in Turkey. Months later she won the singles and doubles event at another tournament. At the age of 17, she made her WTA Tour debut and lost her first career match.
• In 2019, Jabeur played all for Grand Slam main draws and stayed in the top 100 ranking of WTA Tennis for the entire year.
• At the 2022 Wimbledon Championships, she reached her first Grand Slam final and became the first African and Arab woman to reach that level.
• She is the winner of the 2019 Arab Woman of the Year Award.

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