Ons Jabeur reveals complications behind her medical timeout and diagnosis after heroic Australian Open second-round win

Former World No.2 Ons Jabeur found it difficult to breathe during her second-round match at the Australian Open.


Ons Jabeur reveals complications behind her medical timeout and diagnosis after heroic Australian Open second-round win

Ons Jabeur (Image via X)

Ons Jabeur suffered from breathing problems when she was playing her second-round match at the Australian Open against Camila Osorio on Thursday (January 16). The Tunisian ace was in tears during the match and asked for a medical timeout.

Jabeur started to cough and beat her chest after three games during the first set. But she recovered and fought back to clinch the match 7-5, 6-3. After the match, Jabeur said the inhaler she was using was of no help and would find out more about the severity of the problem after medical tests.

YouTube video

It was very, very tough to breathe. I mean, when I was younger, I was diagnosed with asthma, so having to cough a lot didn’t help. I think it did provoke it even more. But yeah, it is very tough to play.

Ons Jabeur said at the press conference

Jabeur, who is a three-time Grand Slam finalist, is currently standing in the 39th position in the WTA rankings. Injury ruined her season last year and she even withdrew from multiple tournaments, including the US Open and the Paris Olympics. The 30-year-old will now be hoping that the asthma flare-up doesn’t ruin her campaign in Melbourne.

FS Video

I had to kind of not play long rallies. I know I was playing Camila today, not the best opponent when you’re in this condition. But I apologized at the end of the match because I really don’t want to behave like this on the court. Yeah, I tried to manage through.

Ons Jabeur added

Ons Jabeur set to play Emma Navarro in the third round

Ons Jabeur, who suffered a second-round exit last year, is set to meet Emma Navarro in the third round. The 8th seed played two tough matches, against Peyton Stearns and China’s Xiyu Wang, beating them in three sets.

Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur (Image via X)

The 23-year-old has faced Jabeur once, at the 2022 Charleston Open but lost the match. While the five-time WTA singles title winner has reached the Australian Open quarterfinals in 2020, Navarro hasn’t yet progressed to the fourth round.

The former World No.2, before the Australian Open, participated in two events, Brisbane International and Adelaide International, reaching the quarterfinals and the second round respectively. In her first-round match in the ongoing event, Jabeur defeated Anhelina Kalinina in straight sets.

The American, on the other hand, was knocked out in the first round in Brisbane and in the quarterfinals in Adelaide before the Australian Open.