The two-time Wimbledon finalist Ons Jabeur spoke emotionally about the situation in the Middle East on Wednesday, saying that she would donate part of her prize money from the WTA Finals to help Palestinians.
Tunisia’s Jabeur is the first Arab tennis player of either gender to reach the highest echelons of the sport.
On Wednesday in Cancun, she scored what we might in other circumstances call a cathartic victory over Marketa Vondrousova – the Czech who had beaten her in this year’s Wimbledon final – to maintain hopes of reaching the semi-finals. But Jabeur said that the satisfaction of the result paled beside the plight of those suffering in the Middle East.
“I am very happy with the win but I haven’t been very happy lately,” Jabeur said in her post-match interview, which found her close to tears. “The situation in the world doesn’t make me happy
“So I feel like… I am sorry.” She paused for a moment to regain her composure. “It’s very tough seeing children and babies dying every day. It’s heartbreaking. I have decided to donate part of my prize money to help the Palestinians. I can’t be happy with this win.
“It is not a political message, it is humanity,” she concluded. “I want peace in this world. That’s it.”
Jabeur has already made nearly £328,000 through participation and winning one of her round-robin matches in Cancun, and could stand to claim an additional £162,500 with a victory in her final group tie. Should she reach the semi-finals, an extra £44,320 could then be boosted by £620,460 by winning in the last four, with £1.15 million on the line for the eventual champion.
Now ranked at No 7 in the world, Jabeur will face No 2 Iga Swiatek in her final group-stage match on Friday. Swiatek squashed Coco Gauff – who served four straight double-faults at one point – in straight sets on Wednesday night to go top of the table.—APP
