For the longest time, Ons Jabeur has wanted to be a mother.
When she competed in her second Wimbledon final in 2023, she felt an insurmountable amount of pressure; not because history was on the line, but because she wanted to win her first grand slam, then take a break from tennis and start a family with husband Karim Kamoun.
“I win that [final] I could have a baby right away. And that dream faded. I was haunted by fear,” she revealed in her documentary This is Me.
Last week, Jabeur announced to the world that she and Kamoun are expecting a boy. In the video she posted on social media, she was holding a tiny Wimbledon-branded onesie as she and her husband broke the news with the caption: “We’ve been planning the cutest comeback ever … Baby boy joining the team in April.”
“We were surprised and, in the beginning, we couldn’t believe it. But we couldn’t be happier,” Jabeur told The National after her announcement.
The 31-year-old Tunisian has long spoken of her desire to grow her family and return to tennis as a mother. The WTA, urged by the Player Council, has been working hard in recent years to make the tour a more supportive environment for mothers competing on the circuit.
Eligible players can now receive a special ranking after going away on maternity leave or undergoing fertility treatment. They can also get paid maternity leave of up to 12 months and receive grants for fertility protection measures, thanks to the Maternity Fund Programme created by the WTA and Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF).
“The maternity programme is unbelievable and I want to thank PIF and WTA for making this happen,” says Jabeur. “I actually spoke to some PIF people in Saudi and I think it’s going to help a lot of us, and definitely me. I’ll be participating in that and hopefully it will make my comeback easier.”
Jabeur has every intention of returning to the tennis tour, and told The National before her pregnancy announcement that she is not hanging up her racquet and is simply on hiatus.
“I’m not retiring like most people think, I’ll be coming back someday,” said the three-time grand slam finalist.
In the meantime, Jabeur will be busy focusing on various projects, including her tennis academy, which she plans to launch in Dubai later this month.
Headquartered at HCT – Academic City Campus, the Ons Jabeur Academy has been a lifelong dream for the Tunisian.
While many players choose to wait until they have fully retired from professional tennis before embarking on a project like this, Jabeur feels it will be even more inspiring for the kids at the academy if she were still an active player on tour.
She has a special message for all future prospects at her academy.
“I’m going to be there. I’m going to practice with you guys, and I’m going to share your same experience. And we’re going to do things together. And maybe I need you if I’m serving, you return my serve and we can be there as a huge family and we share this experience together,” said Jabeur.
“I want to be at Wimbledon and win it and then go celebrate in my academy one day; that’s the beauty of it.”
Jabeur’s last competitive appearance was a first-round retirement at Wimbledon in July. Shortly after, she shared on social media that she planned on taking an indefinite break from the sport to address her mental health as well as physical issues that have plagued her last two seasons.
She hopes spending time at her academy will help reignite her passion for tennis, so she can feel ready to get back to competition after having her baby.
“Maybe it’s a way for me to find the joy again on the court, because seeing the innocence of the kids, there’s nothing better than that,” she explained. “Maybe it will make me remember when I was younger, how I was having fun.”
The Ons Jabeur Academy will feature five Australian Open-style hard courts.
Aref Jellali will serve as academy director, bringing a wealth of experience from his time working with Tennis Canada, and playing key roles in the development of players like Bianca Andreescu and Victoria Mboko.
Jabeur’s long-time coach Issam Jellali – the brother of Aref – as well as her husband/fitness trainer Kamoun will also be involved, bringing a true familial feel to the project.
As someone who spent years searching for a suitable place to train and the right people to work with, Jabeur has a specific vision for her academy.
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur spells out plan to return to sport
She knows her career only took off when she was finally given the freedom to play the way she wanted to play, instead of adapting her game to a coach’s philosophy that didn’t suit her, or a system that forced her to abandon her true self.
“We want to have an academy where we have a system built for you, where you don’t need to adapt your game to anything,” she says.
“Instead, we observe you as a player, we develop your game, we work on your fitness ability compatible to what your game is capable of. We try to evolve some things in your game, but try to personalise a programme just for you and that’s not always the case with academies.
“And you don’t have to become a Wimbledon, US Open or French Open or Australian Open champion. You can come there just to have fun as well. There is no pressure. This world is made of different people and some people just want to learn how to play tennis. Some people, they dream to be No 1 and some just want to add tennis to their bucket list.”
Jabeur plans on implementing the latest technology that would help the academy coaches film practice sessions, analyse performances, and gain access to all the data and statistics necessary to develop the players.
She also says the academy will take over the hosting of the majority of the UAE national tournaments, creating a competitive and vibrant environment for all the players.
While she initially hoped she’d be able to open her first academy at home in Tunisia – “some haters, they blocked the opportunity for me and they didn’t want it. And I didn’t want to force myself where I wasn’t wanted,” she says – she believes in the partnership she has with Dubai and Academic City, and says “it was meant to be”.
Her ultimate dream for this academy?
“I want everybody to be a family there, to have a great time. And I want to see more and more Arab and African champions coming out of the academy or passing through the academy or just the academy could help them evolve and be professional tennis players,” says Jabeur.
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