Ons Jabeur: "Everything takes time with me, unfortunately"

After four weeks away, Ons Jabeur is back in action. The Tunisian plays at the Cincinnati tournament, where she faces Ukraine's Kalinina (28th) on Tuesday. But the world No. 5 arrives in Cincinnati in a sombre mood. She has still not got over her defeat in the Wimbledon final. "I had to take a few days, a lot of days off to recover, and even then it wasn't enough. I didn't feel ready to play in Montreal because that defeat was a little hard for me. So I tried to stay at home and be with my family," Jabeur told the WTA. The 28-year-old is still finding it hard to swallow. "I've tried to think a little about the final, but for now, I have to be honest, it's still difficult to think back on it."

Ons Jabeur hopes that a return to her competitive routines will speed up the healing process. That was the case last year after she lost her first major final, against Elena Rybakina at Wimbledon. Jabeur bounced back to reach the US Open final. "I need to get back on tour and be able to move on. And the best thing is simply to play tournaments, just to focus on what I'm doing and what I want to do," she insisted. "Certainly not give up. That's something I'm very sure about, that I'm going to give my best. Every time I step onto the tennis court, it will be at 100%."

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Despite her three defeats in Grand Slam finals, Ons Jabeur is more confident than ever that she can lift a major title. "I believe I have the level to be a Grand Slam champion. I believe I could be one of the greatest players. Everything takes time with me, unfortunately. Maybe that's a good thing. You never know. I'm just taking it one day at a time, trying to unlock things that may be too early for me to unlock, and maybe it's still too early for me to know about them. But I know I'm going in the right direction."