The story of how Ons Jabeur was called Roger Federer

Friday, 20 May 2022 at 21:30

Updated at Monday, 14 October 2024 at 14:19

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byAlex Waite

Ons Jabeur has stolen the headlines in recent weeks following great success during the 2022 clay court season, but the Tunisian's rise is not a surprise to those who saw her play at youth levels.

Former ITF Junior Omar Laabidi faced Jabeur many times at the youth level. However, Laabidi rarely emerged as the winner and has recalled being repeatedly beaten by a 12-year-old Ons Jabeur, whom he referred to as a young Roger Federer.

Jabeur was always a rising tennis star after coming through the ranks at the Hammam Sousse tennis club in the Tunisian player's hometown. Here, the 27-year-old regularly took on all challengers, including girls, boys, and those in an older age category.

This is how Jabeur earned her nickname of Federer - a homage to the ATP great who won 20 Grand Slam titles in his 20-year career. Laabidi recalls facing a young Jabeur at Hammam Sousse and explains how, even in her early years, she showed extreme power that caused fright among her opponents.

"We used to call her Roger Federer. One time during a training match she hit a drop shot that I tried so hard to return that I broke my arm."

Despite turning pro in 2011, Jabeur struggled to find consistency at the top level until recently. The Tunisian star didn't win a WTA title until she triumphed at the Birmingham Classic in 2021, beating Daria Kasatkina in straight sets in the final.

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Before her Birmingham triumph, Jabeur had only made one previous WTA event final, the Kremlin Cup in 2018. However, the 27-year-old seemingly gained confidence from her Birmingham win last year, and she produced some stunning tennis in 2022, leading to titles at the Charleston Open and the Madrid Open.

Jabeur's journey to her current career-high ranking of 6th in the WTA standings has required plenty of mental toughness and determination. However, her former coach, Nabil Mika, explained that the Tunisian player always had an excellent talent for tennis, even though others tried to get her to play other sports.

"She had great ball control, to the point where other coaches tried to attract her to handball. Ons thought seriously about switching sport — but decided to stick to tennis."

"She hates playing at one pace. She’s always trying to create a spectacle by switching up the game with shots that surprise her opponents, especially with drop shots. She’s really the queen of the drop shot."