Ons Jabeur has been one match away from winning three Grand Slam titles and is still looking to make that breakthrough.
Jabeur has lost in two Wimbledon finals and one final at the US Open final, but dropped down the rankings after a hiatus toward the end of the 2024 season.
After struggling with knee and shoulder injuries, Jabeur ended her season early before returning for the start of 2025.
It appears that Jabeur is now feeling better, and is slowly making her way back up the WTA rankings after climbing from world number 42 to 35.
However, she has still lost four matches and Jabeur continues to struggle against Mirra Andreeva, continuing her winless record against the teenager after their match in Brisbane.
The Tunisian also lost against Emma Navarro at the Australian Open, before seeing another American in Madison Keys win the title.
Ons Jabeur explains how she felt when Madison Keys won the Australian Open
With Jabeur returning to the WTA Tour to continue her bid to win that elusive Grand Slam title, some parallels have been drawn to the similarly aged Keys.
Keys won the Australian Open after years of near misses, and over seven years after losing her first major final to Sloane Stephens at the US Open.
This was brought to Jabeur in her pre-tournament press conference at the Qatar Open, as she admitted to being inspired by Keys.
“She’s younger, but it’s okay. Who is counting? (Laughing),” Jabeur joked. “Yeah, I mean, obviously every player has their own path, and she inspired us all when she won her first Grand Slam, and I wish her all the best. Everybody knows Madison play unbelievable tennis, and she truly deserved that Australian Open.
“Yeah, I mean, everybody creates their own story. I feel like I’m going to discover more in my path and see what’s going to happen.
“I tried my best to win my first Grand Slam, it hasn’t come yet, but hopefully it will come soon, or when it’s supposed to come, but I know that I’m doing everything in my power to be there. If not, then I’ll have a baby and make her win the first Grand Slam (laughing).”
Ons Jabeur explains how she maintains good mental health on tour
Keys, who won her first WTA match at 14, has been very vocal about how therapy has helped her cope with expectations from others.
This is something that Jabeur has also explained is important to her, as she admitted to trying not to put to much emphasis on results and trying to have perspective.
“For me I think from day one, even when I was 12 or 13, the mental health was the most important thing for me, because a healthy mind is a healthy body,” explained the 30-year-old.
“I do believe that, yes, we do practice tennis, and we do play a lot, but a lot of injuries is like our body is screaming for help, you know, it’s the only way that the body can communicate with us, so a lot of injuries are connected to emotional part. Yeah, it is very important to take care of that part.
“Tennis is such a beautiful sport, but it’s not our life. You know, we play, what, 15 years of our life tennis, and the rest of it we move on to another chapter, either some players decide to stay or have their own family or anything.
“So, I think we need to set our priorities and not give so much importance to, you know, titles, Grand Slams, wins. I refuse to let win or loss decide my life, you know.
“I try to take care of that, it’s easier said than done, but for me it’s very important to keep the priorities straight, it’s very important to take care of your health, because, for me, if you ask me to be happy, or sad and win all Grand Slams, I prefer to be happy, you know.”
While Keys has elected to miss the Middle Eastern swing, Jabeur began her Qatar Open campaign with a victory over McCartney Kessler to set up a second round meeting with seventh seed Qinwen Zheng.
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