Ons Jabeur Looks for Her Major Breakthrough at 2024 Wimbledon

The Tunisian star has lost in the last two Wimbledon finals. She hopes this year will be different.

Jabeur lost to Vondrousova in straight sets in the 2023 Wimbledon final. / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

One of Ons Jabeur’s biggest dreams is to win Wimbledon.

She’s come painfully close the last two years, making it to the final in 2022 and ’23. Jabeur was seen as the favorite in both of these matchups, but ultimately couldn’t eke out a win either time.

Wimbledon holds a special place in Jabeur’s heart. There was even an entire episode of Netflix’s since-canceled tennis series Break Point focusing on her dream to hold the Wimbledon trophy. This episode grew Jabeur’s fanbase, with her 2023 run to the final only adding to the fervor.

Jabeur also opened up about her heartbreak after losing the 2023 Wimbledon title in her documentary, This Is Me, which premiered on TOD earlier this year. Jabeur admitted that the tears she shed on the stage while holding up her second-place silver dish were not only sparked by her losing a second consecutive Wimbledon, but also by her wish to become a mother. Jabeur and her husband, Karim Kamoun, planned to try for a baby if she won the coveted major title.

Winning a major championship and having a baby are still Jabeur’s two biggest dreams, as she recently said in a Tennis Insider Club podcast interview that it’s “now or never” for her to grace the major winner’s circle.

Could 2024 finally be the year when Jabeur becomes a Wimbledon champion? 

Jabeur will face Moyuka Uchijima in the first round of Wimbledon. / Susan Mullane-USA TODAY Sports

It hasn’t been the Tunisian’s best year on tour. She’s struggled to make it past the quarterfinal round in major tournaments, including at the French Open where she lost to American Coco Gauff. 

But, as Jabeur’s proven in the past, it doesn’t matter what kind of season she’s had, once she steps onto the grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, her game elevates. She recently gave the perfect quote encapsulating her Wimbledon luck over the last two years.

"Learning from experience, you can play very bad and then make the final at Wimbledon like what happened last year," Jabeur told the WTA Tour. "And I can play really good and win the tournament and still make the final as well (as in 2022).” 

Jabeur will face several obstacles in her Wimbledon pursuit, withdrawing from the Berlin Open, the lead-up tournament to the Championships, due to illness. After losing the opening set to Gauff in a tiebreak, Jabuer withdrew from the quarterfinal match. She’s also been struggling with a persistent knee injury that’s impacted her throughout the season.

Gauff is one of the players who’s stood in Jabeur’s way in recent tournaments. The American beat her at the French Open and in last year’s WTA Finals. Another big competitor for Jabeur is World No. 1 Iga Swiatek, who arrives at Wimbledon on the heels of her third-straight French Open win. (Swiatek, like Jabeur, has yet to win Wimbledon in her young career.) Jabeur has defeated Swiatek in two of their seven meetings, one of those wins coming in the 2021 Wimbledon tournament.

As the 10th seed, Jabeur will definitely face some tough competitors on her journey to a potential third consecutive Wimbledon final. But, she’s overcome those battles before.

If Jabeur finally wins Wimbledon, or any other major tournament for that matter, she will make history as the first African and Arab woman in the Open Era to win a major. She etched her name in history in 2022 when she became the first woman from Africa to appear in a major singles final.

"I come from a very small country, a continent that dreams of seeing someone win a Grand Slam," Jabeur told the WTA Tour. "I feel it's great what I achieved. Obviously, it becomes more and more personal for me because it's always tough to arrive to the final and not win it. But I'm going to keep chasing my dream and what I've learned is that I shouldn't be afraid of failing because that's where I'm really courageous. 

“If I arrive again to the final and I fail again and I stand up again and go back again to another final, I see that as being a strong woman more than anything else.”