Ons Jabeur

Introduced to the sport at just the age of three by her mother, Jabeur shone in 2011 when she won the French Open in the girls’ singles category. She had reached the final of the same the previous year. Her 2011 victory made her the first Arab to win a junior major since 1964. The last Arab to win a junior major was Ismail El Shafei at the 1964 Wimbledon Championships in the boys’ singles category. She achieved a career-high junior ranking of fourth after her 2011 Roland Garros win. She then moved on to compete in the ITF circuit, where she notched up 11 singles titles and one doubles title, before becoming a regular WTA athlete.

Jabuer made her presence felt in 2018 when she reached her first ever WTA final. At the year’s Kremlin Cup, the Tunisian reached the final after defeating the likes of Sloane Stephens and Anastasija Sevastova. Although she lost the final against Daria Kasatkina, Jabeur made a lasting impression. The following year, she made it through to the quarter-finals of the US Open, and also reached the semi-finals of the Tiajin Open and the Eastbourne International.

2020 was an important year for Jabeur. At the season’s first Grand Slam, the Australian Open, she beat the likes of Caroline Wozniacki and Wang Qiang to reach the quarter-finals. Despite losing to Sofia Kenin in the last eight, Jabeur scripted history by becoming the first ever Arab  woman to reach the quarter-final of a Grand Slam. She continued that into the following year as the competitions resumed following COVID-19. Jabeur became the first Arab woman to win a WTA Tour title as she won the 2021 Birmingham Classic after defeating Daria Kasatkina in the final. The year, she also reached the final of the Wimbledon Championships for the first time in her career. Later that year, Jabeur won the Mubadala World Tennis Championship.

The 2022 Madrid Open was the tournament that shot Jabeur into the limelight as one of the best tennis players in the world today. The Tunisian defeated the likes of Belinda Bencic, Simona Halep, and Ekaterina Alexandrova among others to win her third career title and her maiden WTA 1000 crown. She became the first Arab and African player to ever have that distinction. The Tunisian’s season, however, was just getting started. Jabeur participated at the Wimbledon Championships later that year and went all the way to the final. Ahead of the grass court Grand Slam, Jabeur won yet another WTA title at the German Open.

Ons Jabeur’s net worth is estimated to be around USD 2.5 million, but since beginning her career, she has also amassed over USD 7 million in prize money. Tennis tournament victories, which may be incredibly costly, are how she makes her money, but she also has sponsorship agreements with Wilson and Lotto Sport Italia. Jabeur, then just a youngster, made history by being the first Arab woman to win the Junior French Open since 1964. She also made history in 2020 by becoming the first Arab or African woman to make it all the way to the quarterfinals of a major tennis event, a feat she repeated in 2021.