"I don't have any tickets, but I know a nice person named Rafael Nadal who has access" - Ons Jabeur hopes to attend Real Madrid's UCL match against Manchester City
Long-time Real Madrid fan Ons Jabeur hopes her friendship with Rafael Nadal can yield benefits in the shape of tickets to the Spanish club's Champions League semifinal against Manchester City.
Nadal is among the most high-profile names in Spain to support the newly crowned La Liga champions. The 21-time Grand Slam champion was invited by the football club to perform the honorary kick-off during their most recent league game against Espanyol, where they sealed their 35th domestic title.
Lifelong Real Madrid fan Rafa Nadal takes an honorary kick-off at the Bernabéu ⚪ https://t.co/KmkJqsHBvT
Taking note of the incident, Ons Jabeur subtly communicated her interest in watching Madrid's upcoming match. Speaking to the press following her brilliant 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over 11th seed Belinda Bencic at the Madrid Open, the World No. 10 hoped the "nice" Nadal would heed her request.
Manchester City win a SEVEN-GOAL thriller against Real Madrid in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final! 🥵 https://t.co/5SdJWt0T9B
Funnily enough, Jabeur did not stop at just one ticket, jokingly suggesting that she would be elated to have a couple of extra tickets since her husband and coach wanted to go as well. With Real Madrid trailing 3-4 after the first leg, the 27-year-old was certain they could use her support during the blockbuster second leg at the Bernabeu.
"I don't have any tickets or anything, but I know a nice person named Rafael Nadal who has access," Ons Jabeur joked. "I'm just going to put it out there: Rafa, if you need a plus one or two or three - because my coach and husband want to go - you can ask them to put us at the same time and then we can go together to support Real Madrid against Man City. They need me, come on. Hala Madrid!"
"I'm really sick of the quarterfinals, so my goal is to go further and, hopefully, why not be in the finals here?" - Ons Jabeur
Coming back to what lies in store for her on the tennis court, Ons Jabeur will take on former World No. 1 Simona Halep in the quarterfinals in Madrid. The Romanian is on a marauding run of her own this week, having disposed of second seed Paula Badosa and 14th seed Coco Gauff in her previous two matches.
count em'
match wins in Madrid for 
@Simona_Halep, moving past Gauff 6-4, 6-4.💪 count em'
That's 3️⃣0️⃣ match wins in Madrid for 🇷🇴 @Simona_Halep, moving past Gauff 6-4, 6-4.
#MMOPEN https://t.co/t9iQVur7oJ
Halep and Jabeur have met thrice before, with the Romanian leading the head-to-head 2-1. Their last encounter came at the Dubai Tennis Championships earlier this year, with the World No. 21 winning in straight sets.
During her press conference, Jabeur made it known that she was gunning for revenge.
"I'm going for my revenge because we played in Dubai and she played really well. It's frustrating when someone takes control over me," Ons Jabeur said. "I'm going to go for the win and hopefully be fired up like today."
The Tunisian further added that she was sick of falling in the quarterfinals of tournaments and hoped to go further in Madrid. For the record, the World No. 10 has reached the quarterfinals of Grand Slam and WTA 1000 events seven times till date, but has managed to reach the semifinals only once (2021 Indian Wells).
@Ons_Jabeur gets past Bencic 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and secures her spot in the quarterfinals!Into the last eight 🎱
🇹🇳 @Ons_Jabeur gets past Bencic 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 and secures her spot in the quarterfinals!
#MMOPEN https://t.co/pfEcuonf93
The 27-year-old has just one WTA tour title to her name, the 2021 Birmingham Classic, another statistic she hopes to rewrite by the end of this week.
"I love the attitude from today, so we're going for the same attitude," Ons Jabeur said. "I want to continue this way. I'm really sick of the quarterfinals, so my goal is to go further and, hopefully, why not be in the finals here?"