July 17 (UPI) — Former world No. 2 Ons Jabeur will “step back” from tennis so she can heal and “rediscover the joy of simply living,” she announced Thursday on social media.<\/p>\n
“For the past two years, I’ve been pushing myself<\/a> so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges,” Jabeur, 30, wrote on Instagram, Facebook and X.\n<\/p>\n “Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, I feel it’s time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal and to rediscover the joy of simply living. Thank you to all my fans for understanding. Your support and love mean the world to me. I carry it with me always.<\/p>\n “Even while I’m away from the court, I’ll continue to stay close and connected in different ways, and share this journey with you all.”\n<\/p>\n Jabeur, who currently sits at No. 71 in the WTA Tour singles rankings, retired due to breathing difficulties during the second set of her first-round match against No. 105 Viktoriya Tomova of Bulgaria at Wimbledon 2025.<\/p>\n The Tunisian also lost in the first round of the 2025 French Open<\/a>. She advanced to the third round of the 2025 Australian Open, the first Grand Slam<\/a> on the tennis calendar.\n<\/p>\n Jabeur was a 2024 French Open quarterfinalist. She made three Grand Slam finals between the 2022 and 2023 campaign, including the 2022 U.S. Open<\/a>, Wimbledon 2022 and Wimbledon 2023.<\/p>\n Several tennis current and former stars commented with messages of support for Jabeur through comments on her post Thursday on Instagram, including Billie Jean King<\/a>, Paula Badosa, Mirra Andreeva, world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka and Wimbledon 2025 runner-up Amanda Anisimova, who took a mental health-related hiatus from the sport in 2023.<\/p>\n “Sending your our support and wishing you a healing break,” Billie Jean King wrote. “You’ll return stronger than ever.”<\/p>\n \t\t\t