30-year-old Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur is a former WTA World No. 2 ranked player. Her ranking dropped to World No. 42 at the end of 2024 mainly because Jabeur did not win any titles this year. Injuries have plagued Jabeur in recent years. She was forced to pull the plug on her 2024 season in August because of ongoing issues with her shoulder.
At her best, she appeared in three out of five Grand Slam finals between Wimbledon 2022 and 2023. Though nicknamed the Minister of Happiness, she seemed stressed in those big moments especially Wimbledon 2023 when she was the odds-on favorite to defeat Marketa Vondrousova.
Ons Jabeur’s 2025 Challenges
With her ranking, Jabeur faces steep challenges in 2025. If she can win some matches and advance into the latter stages of tournaments, she will gain ranking points and begin moving up. That will be easier said than done because her lower ranking will provide challenging early-round matchups. A good comparison to what Jabeur faces is what happened to Naomi Osaka when returning from maternity leave in 2024. Osaka was forced to find her game amid difficult competition in the first and second rounds of tournaments instead of having some early easy matches to gain her footing.
Ons Jabeur garners two @WTA awards! pic.twitter.com/V436c1SSWB
— US Open Tennis (@usopen) December 14, 2024
Ons Jabeur’s 2024 WTA Awards
Despite a 16-14 record and a disappointing season, Jabeur won two WTA year-end awards, the Sportsmanship and Service Awards. She is a goodwill ambassador for the sport. Her words and actions speak volumes. Amid doubt and criticism by Chris Evert and Martina Navratilova, Jabeur was an outspoken advocate for the WTA Finals move to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
It’s official, @Ons_Jabeur is back for #MubadalaAbuDhabiOpen in 2025 ✅#Mubadala #WTA #AbuDhabiSC
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رسميًا أنس جابر تعود مرة أخرى لبطولة #مبادلة_أبوظبي_المفتوحة في 2025 ✅ pic.twitter.com/dKTIuFUVNG— Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open (@MubadalaADOpen) October 29, 2024
Jabeur’s full 2025 calendar has not been publicized, but fans have learned she will participate in the 2025 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open beginning February 1, 2025.
Can Ons Jabeur win that elusive Grand Slam in 2025? It won’t be easy, but she has advanced to the quarterfinals or better at each one so she should not be counted out. Her all-surface game can bother power players.
