Teary Ons Jabeur fights through asthma flare-up in Melbourne, doesn’t “want to be greedy” with injury return
The Tunisian lined up an Australian Open third-round battle with No. 8 seed Emma Navarro.
Ons Jabeur has her sights on returning to the top of the WTA pack that includes Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff and Elena Rybakina among others.
But the 30-year-old is working on pacing her expectations after a 2024 full of setbacks eventually saw the three-time Grand Slam finalist cut a trying season short in September due to a shoulder injury.
On Thursday, Jabeur secured a spot in the third round of the Australian Open with a 7-5, 6-3 victory over Camila Osorio.
“Not 100% satisfied with the level that I want to be in, the level that will allow me to maybe go back to Top 10 or allow me to compete with amazing players like Coco, Iga, Aryna, Rybakina. I think with them you need to have a certain level,” Jabeur told press.
“But it's getting there. I don't want to be greedy just after coming back from an injury. Sometimes I get angry because I feel like I'm getting back there, but every time something happens.”
Ranked No. 39 coming into this tournament, there was nothing easy about Jabeur’s latest win. The Tunisian, who has asthma, had to navigate a flare-up that arose early in her battle with Osorio—later wiping away tears when she evaluated before leaving the court for medical attention. Afterwards, she admitted things may have turned out a lot different had the opening set not tipped in her favor.
“To be honest with you, if I lost the first set, it would have been very difficult to continue,” Jabeur said.
“I tried to use the inhaler, and it didn't really help. So I was with the doctor, and let's see. We're going to do some more tests and see what's going on.
“Very, very tough to breathe.”
An intriguing matchup awaits Jabeur next in eighth seed Emma Navarro. For the second consecutive round, Navarro overcame a late break deficit in a decider to survive Wang Xiyu, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Jabeur looks to “manage” the situation with the goal of bringing a better bill of health to the court when she faces last year’s US Open semifinalist.
“I think I will have to find a way to feel better the next two days, which I am hoping to feel better, because this started kind of two days or three days ago. I feel like it got worse for some reason,” she said.
“Sometimes I try not to really talk about it because people will blame it on my fitness, which I let them.”