Ons Jabeur is taking a hiatus from the ladies’s tennis tour, with the three-time main runner-up saying on Thursday (July 17, 2025) she needs to “rediscover the joy of simply living.”
Once ranked No. 2 on the WTA Tour, Jabeur has battled accidents in recent times and has fallen to her present No. 71. The 30-year-old from Tunisia retired as a result of of issue respiration throughout her first-round match at Wimbledon, the place she reached the ultimate in 2022 and 2023, and will not be taking part in because the hard-court swing begins.
“For the past two years, I’ve been pushing myself so hard, fighting through injuries and facing many other challenges,” Jabeur wrote on Instagram. “But deep down, I haven’t felt truly happy on the court for some time now.
“Tennis is such a beautiful sport. But right now, 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.”
Jabeur also was the U.S. Open runner-up in 2022, becoming the first woman since Serena Williams in 2019 to reach the final at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows in the same year. She fell short of becoming the first African or Arab woman to win a Grand Slam title in the professional era, but she climbed to No. 2 in the WTA rankings the next week.
She is 15-15 this year after her 2024 season was cut short by a shoulder injury, as she played just once after Wimbledon.
Jabeur, popular with other players and fans, thanked the fans in her post.
“Even while I’m away from the court, I’ll continue to stay close and connected in different ways, and share this journey with you all,” she wrote.
