Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur enjoys a good reputation on the WTA Tour as many describe her as a positive and cheerful person.
Wherever Jabeur goes, her smile follows her.
Being a positive and cheerful person earned Jabeur a “Wazeerat Al Sa’ada” nickname in Tunisia.
When you translate it, you get “Minister of Happiness.”
“Yes, that’s what they call me everywhere I go,” Jabeur told the WTA Tour, when asked about her nickname in Tunisia. “The first thing they say is, `You know, I wake up at 3 a.m. to watch your matches.’ Everybody’s also blaming me for waking up so early.
“Seriously, though, it’s great to see the support from the whole country.”
Jabeur aims to make the top-5
Late in the 2021 season, Jabeur made tennis history when she became the first Arab woman to crack into the top-10.
“There is always a first time, I say,” Jabeur said with a smile. “I am glad that I am the first one to do it. Me, doing this, I try to inspire another generation with this, with great pleasure.
“I always try to work even harder because now the work is even tougher than before. The hardest thing is to maintain this great level, and hopefully I can do it.”
Jabeur achieved a career-high ranking of No. 7 last November.
For this season, Jabeur hopes to go a step further and break into the top-5 for the first time in her career.
“I want to win more titles,” Jabeur said. “I want to be in the Top 5. Yeah, that’s the key for us. We’re trying to find every single detail to push for what’s missing for me to be one of the best five players in the world, and we’re getting there.
“We’re working very hard – we’re just waiting for everything to click.”