Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur announced that she is taking a longer break from tennis as she is expecting a child. The player announced it in an Instagram post alongside her husband and also her fitness coach Karim Kammoun. “Took a little break to reset and recharge… Turns out, we’ve been planning the cutest comeback ever.
The court will have to wait a little longer, because soon… we’ll be welcoming our tiniest teammate. Baby boy joining the team in April”, she posted on Tuesday.
Jabeur, currently ranked 79 in the world, once reached a World No. 2 rank in 2022, when she was finalist in Wimbledon (2022, 2023) and US Open (2022), becoming the first African and Arab woman to reach a Grand Slam final, and the highest ranked player from an Arab country.
However, she struggled to maintain the level in the last two years, suffering from injuries, asthma and depression. She retired in her first round match at Wimbledon with trouble breathing, and then decided to take a break from tennis, before finding out about her pregnacy. In an interview with The National last week, she said she wasn’t retiring: “When my mind and body tell me you’re ready, you want to come back, then I will come back”.
Further reading: Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur speaks up about Palestine’s genocide: “They’re trying to starve people to death”
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