Ons Jabeur

Groundbreaking Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur is the highest-ranked Arab tennis player in the sport’s history. She is also the first Arab player to reach the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament, and the first Arabian and Tunisian female player to win a WTA title. She is currently ranked as the number-one African tennis player, one of the 10 best players in the world, and was named as one of the Arab Women of the Year 2019 for her sporting success.

Born in Tunisia in 1994, Jabeur began playing tennis when she was just three years old. She began making history early when she won the 2011 Junior French Open, becoming the first Arab player to win a single’s junior Grand Slam title for nearly 50 years. She began playing on the ITF Women’s Circuit when she was just 14 years old and began working up her way slowly but steadily up the world rankings during the 2010s. At the 2020 Australian Open, she made her breakthrough in style, beating the legendary Caroline Wozniacki in the last match of her career on her way to her first-ever quarter-final. Later that year, she also reached the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open, causing an upset on the way by beating then-world-number-three Karolína Plíšková.

2021 proved an equally historic year for Jabeur as she won the Birmingham Classic, making her the first female Arab player to win a WTA title. She also reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, beating none other than Venus Williams in the process. She also made the semi-finals at Indian Wells, launching her to a record-breaking top-10 world ranking.