It’s been almost four months since Tunisian star Ons Jabeur shared a heartfelt message on social media announcing she was taking an indefinite break from professional tennis.
She revealed she had been struggling physically and mentally for the past two years, and wasn’t feeling happy on the tennis court.
“I feel it's time to take a step back and finally put myself first: to breathe, to heal, and to rediscover the joy of simply living,” wrote the former world No 2.
This week Jabeur is back at a tennis tournament, not as a competing player, but as an ambassador for the WTA Finals in Riyadh. It is her first appearance on tour since she retired with breathing difficulties from her Wimbledon first round in July, and the smile is already back on the face of Tunisia’s Minister of Happiness.
“My break is going well. I'm discovering life a little bit outside tennis,” Jabeur told The National at the practice courts in Riyadh, where many of her peers were busy training for their matches. “I've been busy with different things, the foundation, the academy. I'm trying to maybe launch new projects as well, so it's been fun.”
The 31-year-old admits her first few weeks off were “a little bit weird”, as she suddenly found herself waking up to no specific schedule. “When your body is used to like six hours, seven hours of training a day and then you just suddenly don't do anything and mostly just eat and go to the beach and relax, I was like, ‘What am I doing? What is this?’
“But then after I got more creative, more active, doing more stuff and definitely my favourite part was spending a lot of time with my family.”
Besides spending quality time with her family, Jabeur took the opportunity to work on projects dear to her heart, like launching her own foundation, and working on creating her new academy, which will officially open its doors in Dubai later this month.
