Ons Jabeur to make history as first top-10 Arab tennis player after making Indian Wells semi-finals
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Updated 15/10/2021 at 09:06 GMT
Ons Jabuer is set to make history by becoming the first Arab man or woman to reach the top 10 in the tennis world rankings. The Tunisian beat Anetta Kontaveit in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells to ensure that after the tournament she will crack the top 10 - and says it is a dream come true.
Ons Jabeur celebrates
Image credit: Getty Images
Ons Jabuer believes this is “the beginning of great things” after making history by becoming the first Arab player to reach the top 10 in the world rankings.
The Tunisian ensured that she will break into the WTA top 10 with a 7-5 6-3 win over Anetta Kontaveit in the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells.
Jabeur started the year at No 31 in the world, and has aspirations to continue to climb higher.
“This is a dream coming true. This is something that I’ve been wanting. I always wanted to get there, to be No 1 in the world,” she said.
“Top 10, I know, is the beginning. I know I deserve this place for a long time since I was playing well. But I want to prove that I deserve to be here, I deserve to be one of the top 10 players. There are a lot of things that I need to improve.
“I’m very happy, a lot of emotions right now, but I’m still in competition so I’m trying to calm down and not overthink about the top 10.
"I just believed in myself, I worked hard, and this is just the beginning of great things."
Kontaveit had won 16 of her last 17 matches heading into Thursday’s quarter-final, but Jabeur swept to victory to secure a tour-leading 48th win of the season.
She has also become the first Arab woman to win a WTA title in 2021, made her first Wimbledon quarter-final, reached finals in Chicago and Charleston, and notched five top-10 wins.
Asked about being a trailblazer for the Arab world, Jabeur said: “It is much different to come from my country than being American or French or Australian. They have not just the example of seeing players playing in front of you, more tennis clubs, even more tournaments, let's say.
"I've been rejected by sponsors because of where I come from, which is so not fair. I didn't understand why before. I accepted it. I dealt with it. I am really proud of the person I became today, just not relying on others.
"Everybody had probably a difficult career. I'm not saying I have the most difficult one. I just wanted to really do this. It's my dream. I didn't want to depend on a sponsor or someone who doesn't even care about tennis or doesn't even care about sport in general. It gave me the courage to continue and achieve my goals, and I'm in top 10 today."
Jabeur will next face Paula Badosa after she won 6-4 6-3 against Angelique Kerber.
Badosa and Jabeur are good friends on tour, and the Spaniard joked: “I hope tonight she eats a lot of burgers and she cannot play!
"We were just talking now. It's really fun to play against her. We're really good friends again so I'm playing another friend. It's going to be a tough one.
"I always said she's one of the most talented players in the world. She's doing an amazing year. It's nice seeing all these players that we were like a few years ago outside the top 100 now being top 10, top 20, fighting for the finals. It's amazing. I'm super happy and I'm happy that I can play her."
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