The first Tunisian–or Arab–to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal hopes to inspire the next.
Tunisia’s Ons Jabeur became the first player from Tunisia to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal with her Day 7 victory over China’s Wang Qiang. The talented 25-year-old has set her sights high—she wants to reach the Top 20 in 2020—and hopes that she is also setting the bar high for other Tunisians and the rest of the Arabic world.
She was asked if she felt her run in Melbourne would provide extra motivation for young tennis players back home.
“I'm trying,” she said. “I mean, quarterfinals for the first time, trying to inspire many young generation back home either in Tunisia or the Arabic world, especially in Africa, which is amazing. I mean, it's not impossible. I made it. Like I said before, I've been practicing in Tunisia from the age of 3 through 16 or 17. I'm 100 percent Tunisian product.
Jabeur, who plays a creative, unconventional brand of tennis and is a former Roland Garros junior champion, is eager to help fellow Tunisians learn that they too can dream big when it comes to tennis.
“Hopefully now we can see more and more,” she said. “Maybe one day I can share my experience, Malek Jaziri could share his experience with this young generation. I'm in touch with a lot of players. They ask me what to do sometimes with the program and everything. I'm happy to share. I don't have a lot of experience obviously, but I'm happy to share what I know.”
The 25-year-old is playing in her 13th main draw at a major and had never been beyond the third round before. She entered the week ranked at 78 but is slated to make her Top 50 debut after the Australian Open. At times, she said, hope was difficult to come by.
“I knew it was going to come one day,” Jabeur said on Sunday in Melbourne. “I just had to be patient, still believe in it. I won't lie to you guys. Sometimes I kind of lost hope little bit. But then, I mean, I have such a good team behind me, my family, I couldn't stop dreaming about it, so I'm really happy that it came this year.”
Jabeur will face American Sonia Kenin in the quarterfinals.
