Ons Jabeur is definitely not able to do it anymore. Since her loss in the Wimbledon final, the Tunisian has had a string of poor performances. Now in contention for the Cincinnati tournament, the world No. 5 needs to get her act together before the US Open.
What's happening to Ons Jabeur? The Tunisian's level of play has dropped considerably since her final loss. It was at Wimbledon against the Kazakh Elena Rybakina. The world number 5 shows a completely different face. Feverishness in her services, lack of fighting spirit. Jabeur has completely lost the will to win. She has a string of poor performances.
Although she is comfortable on grass, Jabeur has trouble asserting herself on clay court. The finalist of this year's tournament in Rome, was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the tournament in San Jose. In Toronto, she was eliminated in the first round. After losing the first set (6-1) to Zheng Qinwen of China, she dropped the second set (2-1). Suffering from abdominal pain, the Tunisian preferred to withdraw.
In any case, she decided to go to San Jose without her staff. The 27-year-old player wanted "to be alone with her thoughts on the court. I'm alone here," said the best African player in a press conference. I just want to find out how to manage myself. I'll take it match by match and see what happens."
In particular, the Tunisian must get her act together before the last Grand Slam of the season. Her best performance at the US Open is a round of 16. The winner of the WTA 1000 in Madrid must therefore raise her level. To be able to exceed this milestone in the next edition, scheduled from August 29 to September 11.
But before that, she will be highly anticipated in Cincinnati. Exempted from the first round, the Tunisian will face the American Catherine McNally (20th), on Wednesday, August 17. Ons Jabeur is also involved in doubles. The Tunisian is indeed teamed with the Belarusian Victoria Azerenka. The duo has already validated its ticket for the round of 16, after dominating the Japanese Shuko Aoyama and Taiwanese Chan Hao-Ching in two sets (6-3, 6-3).
