Ons Jabeur is playing in these minutes (today, January 14) her 1st round match at the Australian Open 2025 against Anhelina Kalinina.
The Tunisian wants to come back to the forefront after a very complicated period, which has also seen her involved in off-court problems. The former WTA number 2 spoke about a topic that is unfortunately very current, which has nothing to do with tennis and sports in general, on the eve of the Happy Slam.
The three-time Slam finalist in fact focused on the tragedy that is hitting Gaza, in the conflict with Israel, sharing her desperation in seeing videos of people dying every time.
"What is happening in the world has affected me more than I expected. I have tried to stay away from the media for a long time because every time I see a video of the killings in Gaza it is horrific. I am trying to help as much as I can, but the most frustrating thing is that I know I can't do it as much as I would like," she said, in an exclusive interview with The Guardian.
The World Food Programme ambassador posed a question that really makes you think in the face of such tragedies: "It is heartbreaking to see innocent people dying all the time, right now there are children dying of hunger and cold. The injustice is killing me and I am trying to separate my worries from my professional life. What is the point of playing tennis if innocent people are dying?"
As mentioned, the Tunisian has not been able to perform as she would have liked in recent times, falling to fortieth place in the world.
"Recently I've been trying to remind myself why I started playing tennis. I should be happy on the court and I haven't been for a long time. I know that tennis career is a rollercoaster and I'm learning a lot from the difficult times, I feel like the experience will help me. I need to remember who I was, to reconnect with myself. I don't know how long it will take, but I'm confident that if I was able to play at a certain level, I will come back to it. Maybe in the second half of the year I will be at my best," she added.
