Ons Jabeur has confirmed that she has taken a “step back" from tennis following her tearful exit in the first round of Wimbledon last month.
The Tunisian was forced to retire from her match against Bulgaria's Viktoriya Tomova at the All England Club after going 2-0 down in the second set following a tiebreak loss in the opener.
The 30-year-old, who had struggled from the start with having her blood pressure taken and then taking an off-court medical timeout, admitted after the match she was going to “disconnect a little bit from tennis”.
And on Thursday, the WTA announced Jabeur had dropped out of the Montreal Open that starts on July 27 over “fatigue” while also revealing she was “the only player in the Top 99 who has not entered next month's US Open”.
Jabeur – a three-time Grand Slam finalist and former world No 2 – has dropped down to 71 in the rankings, having endured a relentless series of injuries over the past 12 months.
“For the past two years I've been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges,” wrote Jabeur in a social media post. “But, deep down, I haven't felt happy on court for some time now.
“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 means the world to me. I carry it with me always.
“Even while I am away from the court, |I'll continue to stay close and connected in different ways, and share this journey with you.”
During the Australian Open in January – this season's opening Grand Slam – Jabeur was in tears after experiencing breathing problems during her third-round match against Camila Osorio.
“When I was younger, I was diagnosed with asthma, so having taken off a lot didn't help. I think it provoked it even more,” she told reporters after her 7-5, 6-3 win at Melbourne Park.
Jabeur needed medical assistance a month later at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships as she was beaten in the first round by Peyton Stearns.
“It was pretty tough today,” Jabeur said after the match. “I wasn't 100 per cent, obviously. It’s nothing really serious … I just wasn't feeling 100 per cent physically.”
After also exiting the French Open at the first-round stage – losing in straight sets to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in May – Jabeur admitted to being unsure how she would manage at the London Grand Slam, where she was a two-time finalist.
The Tunisian suffered heartbreaking Centre Court losses against Elena Rybakina and Marketa Vondrousova in 2022 and 2023, respectively. Her other final defeat came against Iga Swiatek at the 2022 US Open.
“It's a good and bad memory here. So I'm trying to really enjoy as much as I can,” she told The National before the grass-court tournament. “Try to find that freedom when I'm playing and the joy when I'm playing. It's been a tough year, I would say.
“But yeah, it is what it is. I'm trying to repeat some positive words to myself that … I don't want to carry the disappointment that happened before and then hopefully I can move on with it.
“The ability of believing in myself that I can come back like before, it's been a bit low and that really affected me,” she added.
“So yeah, it’s just about a lot of believing in myself more than ever because coming back at a certain level, it's never easy. So I hope I can overcome that.”
