Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur admits she has less pressure on her shoulders heading into the French Open this year but it isn’t necessarily a good thing.
The past few weeks have been a challenge for the world No.7 whose preparation for the next Grand Slam was briefly interrupted by a calf injury which forced her to withdraw from her semi-final match in Stuttgart before pulling out of the Madrid Open where she was the defending champion. Then at the Italian Open, she could only manage to win five games during her opening match against Paula Badosa who prevailed 6-4, 6-1.
It is a frustrating outcome for Jabeur who started this year’s clay swing by winning her fourth WTA title in Charleston. At the tournament, she produced back-to-back wins over Daria Kasatkina and Belinda Bencic. Overall, she didn’t drop a set in five matches played.
Now with the French Open set to begin in just over a week, it remains to be seen how much of a contender the 28-year-old will be for the title. Despite her all-around game and reaching the final of two Grand Slams last year, Roland Garros is the only major where she is yet to reach the last eight. In 2022 she crashed out in the first round to Poland’s Magda Linette.
“Maybe it doesn’t matter if you have a lot of matches coming in or the confidence is high. Maybe this year is better that I have no matches under my belt and just trying to get through the journey,” Jabeur told rolandgarros.com about her French Open preparation.
“For me, maybe I have less pressure this Roland-Garros but you know I like pressure, so I’m trying to find the good pressure to keep me alive and play a good game.
“The thing that maybe worries me is that I want to be physically 100 percent; that’s going to help me get more matches and if I can do that, if I can have a good two weeks of practice, I think I will be able to have great results at Roland-Garros.”
Jabeur has her work cut out if she wishes to clinch the biggest title of her career in Paris given the depth of women’s tennis. Reigning champion Iga Swiatek is the favourite but recently had to retire from her match in Rome due to a right thigh injury. Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka triumphed in Madrid and was also runner-up in Stuttgart. Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina is a former quarter-finalist at the French Open.
Despite being one of the top players in her sport, Jabeur doesn’t watch a lot of tennis in her free time. If she does, she likes to have a look at those players who she feels have something in their game that she doesn’t.
“I am impressed by Aryna’s power game, I’m impressed by Iga’s mentality on the court, how she doesn’t give up anything. I like watching Petra Kvitova doing some crazy shots, doesn’t matter where she is. A lot of players. Something that I don’t have probably, I would want to watch. The opposite of my game,” she said.
Named by her rival Swiatek as one of the best players on the clay, Jabeur is confident that she can produce a good run at the French Open regardless of her recent results and injury setback.
“The main key is that you adapt to clay, to grass, to hard courts; it’s very difficult to find a complete player. I love clay, I love playing on clay; it’s probably the only surface that I don’t need matches under my belt to play good, and I showed that in Charleston.” She concluded.
The French Open will begin on Sunday 28th May.
