Ons Jabeur to miss rest of tennis season after 'extremely hard year' with injury, set to return in Australia in January

Published 16/09/2024 at 14:38 GMT

Former world No. 2 and three-time Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur will miss the rest of the season due to an ongoing shoulder injury, which has derailed much of her year so far. Posting on social media, the Tunisian wrote that the decision was made together with her medical team and that during her lay-off she would focus on charity work and "ensuring that we make a real difference in the world."

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Tunisian multiple Grand Slam finalist Ons Jabeur will miss the remainder of the season as a result of an ongoing shoulder injury.

Jabeur, who was runner-up at Wimbledon in 2022 and 2023 as well as the 2022 US Open, shared the news on X.

The 30-year-old has missed several tournaments this year due to injuries but indicated her intention to return to competition in Australia in January.

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Writing on X, she said, "This year has been extremely hard for me and as athletes, we know that recovery is part of the journey.

"Due to my ongoing shoulder injury, my medical team and I've made the difficult decision to step off the tennis circuit for the rest of the season.

"While I'm taking time to heal, I'll be dedicating myself to charity work and ensuring that we make a real difference in the world."

Jabeur is the highest-ranked Arab and African tennis player in history across both the men's and women's tours, and has been credited with raising the profile of the sport across the region.

She has been open about her desire to expand the sport's reach to women from backgrounds and countries which are traditionally under-represented at the top levels.

Jabeur reached a career-best of world No. 2 in 2022, the same year she reached the final at Wimbledon for the first time and at the US Open.

She made another appearance in the final at the All England Club the next year but has not reached the same heights since, struggling with early exits and injuries in 2024 and falling to 22nd in the world.

She lost in the second round of the Australian Open to 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva, before reaching the quarter-finals on the Roland-Garros clay and the third round at Wimbledon.

She opted out of playing at the Paris Olympics to protect her health following a knee injury, and was forced to pull out of the US Open due to the same shoulder injury which has now ended her season early.

In the post announcing the news she added "I will see you back on the court in Australia 2025," which could perhaps be at one of the warm-up tournaments before the first Grand Slam of the year in Melbourne.

With all four major tournaments finished, the remainder of the 2024 season consists of the Asian and indoor hard-court swings and the showpiece end-of-season WTA Finals for the top eight players.

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