Tennis World in Shock: Ons Jabeur’s Sudden Withdrawal from 2024 Tour Sends Ripples Through the Sport
Ons Jabeur Withdraws from 2024 Season Due to Shoulder Injury
Tunisian tennis player Ons Jabeur announced on Monday that she will withdraw from the August tournaments in Washington, Cincinnati, and the U.S. Open and will not compete in the rest of the 2024 season.
Due to her ongoing shoulder injury, Jabeur’s medical team and she have made the difficult decision to retire from competitive tennis for the remainder of this season. She expressed her decision in a post on X, stating, “I will return to competition at the 2025 Australian Open.”
🙏❤ pic.twitter.com/Hp0Vvtuvxh
– Ons Jabeur (@Ons_Jabeur) September 16, 2024
Currently ranked 22nd in the Women’s Tennis Association, Jabeur became the first Arab player to reach the top 10 in 2021 and set a career-high of No. 2 in the WTA in 2022. The 26-year-old Tunisia resident won five WTA singles titles, all between 2021 and 2023, before a series of injuries hampered her performance.
In January 2024, Jabeur signed an exclusive apparel sponsorship agreement with Kayanee, a fitness brand owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. This sponsorship is another step for PIF to enter the global sports field and an opportunity for her to express solidarity with the Arab world.
Despite some opposition in the tennis community, Jabeur has repeatedly voiced her support for Saudi Arabia’s partnership with the WTA. In February 2024, she told AFP that the WTA might hold a tour in Saudi Arabia, stating, “If the WTA Finals is held there, I will be one of the supporters,” and pledged to “not only go there to play, but also to promote. Go there to do many things, not just play tennis.”
She added, “I feel like people should know more about what’s going on in Saudi Arabia; know more about how the country is getting better, and I feel like it’s important not to just listen to one side of the story — on anything, to be honest, not just on this, but on everything.”
With Jabeur out, there is only one Arab tennis player left in the WTA top 100: 28-year-old Egyptian Mayar Sharif, currently ranked 88th. Sharif has won one singles title and one doubles title on the WTA Tour and has a career-high ranking of 31st.