It is dark and rainy at the dead of night but here comes Ons Jabeur, beaming across my screen and bringing the sunshine, just before 2am. She is early for our Zoom interview because Jabeur is different to most sports personalities who are locked inside their bubbles of fame where punctuality does not seem to matter much. Jabeur, preparing for the Australian Open in Melbourne, lives in the real world and so humility comes naturally.
Yet she is about to enter another dimension where she will be tested in a new way. Jabeur enjoyed a breakout 2022 – becoming the first African and Arab woman to win a WTA 1000 event while making further history as she reached the final at Wimbledon and the US Open. She has risen to world No 2 and this year started with her pictured on the cover of Vogue Arabia, joining Naomi Osaka’s new agency and, with Novak Djokovic, leading the first executive committee of the Professional Tennis Players Association as it tries to reshape the sport.
