"How I get treated when I play doubles" - Ons Jabeur amused by Ellen Perez photoshopping herself to hold umbrella for Tunisian at Guadalajara
Ons Jabeur is currently playing at the 2023 Guadalajara Open and competing in both singles and doubles categories. This is a rare occasion when the Tunisian is playing doubles tennis.
Jabeur has teamed up with young American sensation Peyton Stearns to play her third doubles tournament of the year. They comfortably won their opening round match on Sunday, September 17, against the seasoned British pair of Olivia Nicholls and Alicia Barnett, 6-3, 6-2, marking the Tunisian first doubles win of 2023.
The match garnered attention across the tennis community, and doubles World No. 22 Ellen Perez, Jabeur's close friend, had some fun with the images from the contest.
The Australian photoshopped herself in a picture of Jabeur and Stearns sitting in the chairs between the games. In the quirky edit, Perez placed herself next to the ball boys and appeared to hold an umbrella for the Tunisian.
"Always there for you, Ons Jabeur," Ellen Perez wrote in her Instagram Story along with the edited picture.
The Tunisian was impressed by Perez's photoshopping skills and reshared the story on her Instagram, jokingly writing:
"This is how I get treated when I play doubles."
Ellen Perez also competed in doubles at the Guadalajara Open alongside her regular partner, American Nicole Melichar-Martinez. The No. 6 seed fell in the first round to Mayar Sherif and Jasmine Paolini, 6-1, 6-4.
As for Jabeur-Stearns, they will face No. 2 seed Taylor Townsend and Leylah Fernandez in the second round on September 19.
Ons Jabeur is seeded No. 1 in singles at the Guadalajara Open
Jabeur, the World No. 7, is the top seed in the singles main draw at the WTA 1000 tournament and is one of the few top 20 players playing in Mexico this week. She received a bye in the first round and will face Alycia Parks in the second on September 19. This is Jabeur's debut at the tournament.
The Tunisian has had a stop-start 2023 season. After the Australian swing, she had to miss the tournaments in the Middle East due to surgery. The 28-year-old has struggled with injuries and has not displayed consistent form.
The high points in her 2023 season include winning her 4th career title at the WTA 500 Charleston Open in April, reaching the quarterfinals at Roland Garros, and the final at Wimbledon.
However, since her Wimbledon finals loss to Marketa Vondrousova, which she dubbed the "most painful" of her career, Ons Jabeur has looked rusty on the court. At the Western and Southern Open, she did reach the quarterfinal but did not play her best tennis.
At the US Open, she caught a nasty bug and was ill throughout the tournament, where she was defending finals points. Jabeur lost to Qinwen Zheng in the fourth round in New York.
She would hope to reinvigorate her form at Guadalajara, where she is the firm favorite to lift her second WTA 1000 title.