25-year-old Ons Jabeur is the most successful female tennis player, not just from Tunisia, but the Arab world as a whole. When she beat Dominika Cibulkova – ranked No.7 at the time – in the Roland Garros second round in 2017, she became the first Arab woman in history to reach the third round at a Grand Slam.
She replicated that feat at last year’s US Open, and also in Melbourne this week, where she took out No.12 seed Johanna Konta and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia. She will now face 2018 champion Caroline Wozniacki in the last 32 on Friday.
“It’s the first time for me to make the third round in Australia, and hopefully this time will be the charm, because I always make it to the third round then … I don’t want to say the word,” joked Jabeur, who is as famous for her sense of humour as much as she is for her deadly drop shots.
The highest-ranked Arab woman in tennis history – she peaked at 51 in the world last season – Jabeur knows that she is representing an entire region every time she steps on the tennis court.
