“It will not make me feel good,” Ons Jabeur explains her emotional reaction in Abu Dhabi playing against Beatriz Haddad Maia

The former World No. 2 explained what caused her to lose control of emotions and start crying mid-match in Abu Dhabi.

“It will not make me feel good,” Ons Jabeur explains her emotional reaction in Abu Dhabi playing against Beatriz Haddad Maia

Ons Jabeur (image via X [Twitter])

World No. 6 Ons Jabeur had a poor outing in the 2024 Abu Dhabi Open last week. Playing as the second seed at the WTA-500 event, a good run was expected from the Tunisian but she crashed out in her second match itself.

She started her campaign in the second round directly courtesy of her seeding. She defeated Emma Raducanu comfortably to advance into the quarter-finals. But Brazilian star Beatriz Haddad Maia proved too good for Jabeur as she won the match 6-3, 6-4.

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While the result was indeed surprising, her emotional breakdown on the court came out as the more shocking thing. Receiving the service at 3-4 in the second set, Jabeur started crying mid-match with tears filling up her eyes.

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She however showed sportsmanship of the highest quality and finished the match despite not winning a game again. Following the match, as expected, the former World No. 2 was questioned on what happened during the match.

Often called the ‘Minister of Happiness‘ for her jolly nature, Jabeur rarely loses her control over her emotions. But it was a rare occasion in Abu Dhabi last week and the second seed had no problem in explaining and accepting it. 

I honestly don't think about it much. I'm an open book, an emotional person. I like to show myself. One thing I have learned is to accept the emotion, and if I try to hide it, it will not make me feel good.
Said Jabeur in the press conference after her loss. 
So it's good to let it out and be done with it than to keep it inside and probably will make more problems for you later. So for me, I really try to be myself, really try to show myself to the crowd and connect with them in the most visible way.
Explained the Tunisian.

Ons Jabeur’s struggles continue with another early exit

With concerns rising about her knee injury, Jabeur had confirmed her participation at the 2024 Qatar Open. She was ready to work her way through the injury to play in the first WTA-1000 event of the season.

Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur played with a bandage on her knee at the Qatar Open (images via IMAGO)

Playing as the fourth seed, the Tunisian crashed out in the second round itself against Lesia Tsurenko. The Ukrainian won the tie 6-3, 6-2 to knock out Jabeur. With the defeat, the three-time Grand Slam runner-up has now lost three of the five matches she has played so far this season.

It is high time for her to assess the extent of her knee injury given it was the reason she made a delayed start to the season. The two-time Wimbledon finalist skipped all the events Down Under except the 2024 Australian Open. She however lost to Russian wunderkind Mirra Andreeva in the second round itself.

It however looks unlikely that the World No. 6 will skip next week’s WTA-1000 event in Dubai. The Dubai Duty Free Championships will be played between 18th to 24th February in the UAE.

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