Ons Jabeur ruled out of Madrid Open due to calf injury with just a month until French Open begins

ByJames Hilsum

Published 25/04/2023 at 08:22 GMT

Ons Jabeur's preparations for the French Open have been a dealt a blow after the Tunisian ruled herself out of the upcoming Madrid Open. Jabeur was forced to retire from her Stuttgart Open semi-final against Iga Swiatek, with the diagnosis a "small" calf tear. Jabeur could still appear at the Italian Open, which begins on May 8, in a bid to get ready for Roland-Garros.

Ons Jabeur is out of the Madrid Open with a calf injury in a big setback to her preparations for Roland Garros.

The Tunisian revealed the news on social media and it comes after she was forced to withdraw from her WTA Stuttgart semi-final against Iga Swiatek on Saturday.

Scans subsequently revealed that Jabeur had suffered a tear in her calf, meaning she would not be able to defend the title in Madrid.

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She wrote: “Hello from Madrid, and update on my situation. Further to many medical exams done, it shows that I have a small tear in my calf and I will need more time to recover.

"I am sad to announce that I won't be able to compete and defend my title this year [in Madrid].

"I would like to wish to everyone and the tournament a great event and looking forward to coming back next year.”

Jabeur has endured a tough start to 2023 following her second-round exit at the Australian Open, and missed both the Qatar Open and Dubai Tennis Championships with injury.

She spoke in February about that heart-breaking moment and explained the need to undergo minor surgery.

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Speaking on social media at the time, she said: "In order to take care of my health situation, my medical team have decided that I need to get a minor surgery in order to be able to be back on the courts and perform well.

"I will have to retire from Doha and Dubai and this is breaking my heart.

"I would like to say sorry to all the fans out there in the Middle East that waited for this reunion. I promise I will come back to you stronger and healthy."

Jabeur was able to return for Indian Wells, but suffered a round of 32 exit to Marketa Vondrousova and then lost in the first round in Miami to Varvara Gracheva.

The 28-year-old did however manage to win the Charleston Open by beating Belinda Bencic in the final to claim a first trophy of the year.

Her run to the semi-finals in Stuttgart included victories over Jelena Ostapenko and Beatriz Haddad Maia before her defeat to Swiatek.

Tunisia's Ons Jabeur (R) huggs Poland's Iga Swiatek after Jabeur gave up due to an injury in the first set of their semi-final match at the Women's Tennis Grand Prix WTA tournament in Stuttgart, southwestern Germany, on April 22, 2023.

Image credit: Getty Images

Jabeur could still appear at the Italian Open, which begins on May 8 and is now her only remaining opportunity to prepare for the French Open, unless she opts for a tournament at WTA 250 level or below.

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