Ons Jabeur was one of the top favourites at the 2022 Roland Garros, but she lost already in the first round and shifted her focus on the grass-court season early.
After winning 17 out of 20 matches on clay in 2022, Ons Jabeur hoped to have a good run in Paris, but the opposite was true. Now, she will start her grass-court season at the 2022 Berlin Open and she will try to replicate her last year's achievement from Birmingham where she won her first WTA title.
"Usually, I play football on grass, not tennis, but it's changing a little bit for me, " Jabeur told WTA Insider by phone on Media Day at the Berlin Open in Germany. "I feel like I have a great relationship with grass."
"As soon as I find my timing, how to adapt to my shots, it becomes much better and I feel like I will be enjoying much more my time on grass. I like to see grass as a fun game because it's much different from other surfaces. When I see it that way, I play much better."
"If you believe you can play good on grass, then you can. If you have a hate relationship with grass, then it's not going to help. I think grass could suit a lot of players. For example, players who hit flat and hard, it's tough to return the balls."
"Other players, like myself, who change the rhythm, they slice, they make you visit all the corners of the court, they can play really good on grass. So you need to be ready on your legs and prepare your reaction very well."
"What happened at the French Open taught me a lot to maybe have a better schedule next time or handle the pressure much better for sure. But it's the part of the process, part of the goals that I want to achieve. I have to accept those kinds of challenges because that's where I want to go in my career."
"I think maybe the bounce [on grass is the most difficult thing] because sometimes the bounces are unexpected and you don't know where the ball is going to go," Jabeur said. "Sometimes it's really frustrating because you think you have the shot to win it and a bad bounce changes everything. So I think if you adapt your eyes, your reaction to grass, the mission can be much easier."
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