Comment on this story
Comment
WIMBLEDON, England – On Thursday afternoon enough waves of good feelings passed through Center Court that were hard to take off, not that anyone with a heart would care. Suddenly and in a strong embrace on the net they piled up: the last possibility of an impossible story, the expansion of the possibility to new regions of the world, a demonstration of sportsmanship and a mother of two children expecting others women. he could see her and gain a little more strength.
Ons Jabeur, 27, went from notable to most notable in becoming the first Arab woman and first African in any Grand Slam final when she defeated Germany’s beloved friend Tatiana Maria 6-2, 3 -6, 6-1. She and Maria, 34, have long embraced the net after which Jabeur, giving up the usual call of the winner alone on the track, took Maria with her hand so that the audience could applaud everyone. two. Jabeur then praised Maria in a track interview for, among other things, reaching her first Grand Slam semifinal after giving birth twice.
Rafael Nadal is retiring from Wimbledon due to an abdominal injury
It illuminated new worlds within the world, if Jabeur had not already done so by winning a second tier in Madrid this year and reaching number 2 in the world. He helped mount a nationality final that a generation ago would have looked fantastic: Tunisia vs. Kazakhstan. That’s because Jabeur will play the final on Saturday against Elena Rybakina, the 23-year-old Russian who took on Kazakh nationality in 2018 and who dominated 2019 champion Simona Halep, 6-3, 6-3, in the other semifinal.
“I want to be bigger, inspire many more generations,” Jabeur would say at his press conference. “Tunisia is connected to the Arab world, it is connected to the African continent. The area, we want to see more players. It’s not like Europe or any other country. I want to see more players from my country, from the Middle East, from Africa. I think at one point we didn’t believe ourselves enough to be able to do it. Now I’m just trying to show it. I hope people get inspired. “
Tunisia, the small 12 million North African country with a good history in football and the Olympics, remained an unlit place in the world of tennis when Jabeur took a racket at the age of 3 with the intention of his mother, Samira, at his birthplace, Ksar Hellal. near the Mediterranean coast. At the age of 9, Jabeur had moved for an hour with her family to Sousse, also on the coast, and the girl was telling people she wanted to win the French Open one day.
“Everyone laughed at me,” he said Thursday.
At the age of 13, he had gone to the capital, Tunis, to train at a national sports academy, and at the age of 16, he had won the junior individual title at the French Open. By the end of 2017, he had reached the top 100; by the end of 2020, the top 50; and by the end of 2021, the top 10, up there in the history of his country with sports stars such as four-time Olympic medalist Mohammed Gammoudi (men’s athletics), London 2012 gold medalist Habiba Ghribi female obstacles) and Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 bronze medal Marwa Amri (women’s wrestling), not to mention the Tunisian men’s soccer team about to head to the World Cup for the sixth time. Jabeur joined this pantheon with a clever game that features the full-featured toolbox (all on display Thursday) and an essence that made it something else: beloved.
Maria referred to her at different times as “such a great person” and “an amazing person” and “a really open person”, and when the quarter-finals here ended on Tuesday, Marie Bouzkova of the Czech Republic received Jabeur with open arms several steps. before the hug. “She’s number two in the world,” Maria said, “and she’s still the same person she was many years ago.”
In his country, he has a nickname: “Minister of Happiness.”
The Wimbledon ban and the coronavirus have opened the door to new faces
“Yes, I mean, it’s a pleasure to be called that,” he said Thursday. “It’s really amazing. Maybe they’re thinking about having a happiness minister. It’s funny because [an] The current minister calls me, “Hello, Minister.” It is fun. Sometimes these are difficult times in Tunisia. When they see my matches, they always say that sport unites people. I’m glad they follow me. They are pushing me to do better. I hope I can stay [minister] title forever “.
It seemed almost hard, then, for her first Grand Slam semifinal after two previous quarterfinals to find her in front of Maria, a player in 103rd place who considers Jabeur to be “part of the family”. So when they finished, after Jabeur had played the kind of masterful third set that a strong mind can summon (10 winners, three unforced errors), they hugged and Maria said, “I’m very happy for you.” They had their time together, not separately, and Maria greeted each other amid grateful cries.
“Now he has to make me a barbecue,” Jabeur said early in the crowd, “to make up for the whole race.” And: “I love seeing Tatjana like that on the court, and we don’t play again.” And, with a booming joy: “I am a proud Tunisian who is here today. I know they are going crazy in Tunisia right now. “
Then the friendship and sport continued because Jabeur devoted himself to Mary: “If you did not see your two children, I would say that you have never had them. It’s amazing how it moves on the track. It’s really inspiring for a lot of women. “
“Yes, I hope to be able to send this message,” said Maria, “that I have two children and I am on this stage. I think anything is possible. I am 34 years old, have two children and I play my first semifinal at Wimbledon … Until and all with the family, you can have a career and move on. “
Then, we return to the theme of the winner: “I mean, she is also an inspiration, yes, for many women on this planet.”
She, Jabeur, has overcome her original ascent with another ascent. Here he has talked about his mental trainer, about meditation, about doing a better breathing job. “I talk a lot about how nice it is to get the feelings out, all the stress,” he said. “It is very important”. He spoke Thursday about childhood heroes Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Venus Williams and Andy Roddick and recent councilor Billie Jean King.
“He always calls me ‘one ball at a time’ and focuses on that,” Jabeur said, adding soon, “I always remember her during the game when the scoreboard is like she’s behind or something.”
However, until the previous Wimbledon, when he reached the quarterfinals beating Venus Williams, Garbine Muguruza and Iga Swiatek, he had not harbored the dream of Wimbledon. (The French Open, you know.) Then on Thursday he reached a decisive set in a semifinal and roared to 5-0 with just one game that was ten. He then sat down and toweled his face and adjusted the tiara while the chair referee said, by custom after the changes, “The weather.”
He left, and two games later, he could have meant time for new kingdoms of the world, or time for, like King, another pioneer.