"It's been unbearable to play with the pain" - Ons Jabeur's knee injury woes continue as Tunisian withdraws from Dubai Tennis Championships
Ons Jabeur has withdrawn from the 2024 Dubai Tennis Championships due to a knee injury and not having enough time to recover.
Jabeur was set to compete at the last tournament of the 2024 WTA Tour's Middle East swing as the No. 5 seed. However, she withdrew before her main draw match due to an injury. She missed last year's Dubai Tennis Championships as well due to physical issues.
In an Instagram Story on February 18, Ons Jabeur shared that she is not fully fit to compete at the WTA 1000 event and is suffering from a knee injury that is making it "unbearable" for her to play matches. After consultation with doctors and her team, the Tunisian decided to pull out of the competition.
She will now undergo medical treatment and hopes to return to the tour in the US swing.
"Dear Friends and Family. I wanted to share with you all that my knee, is not holding, it's been unbearable to play with the pain and not being able to give my best on the court is frustrating. After consultation of my Doctors and Team we have decided that I will have to withdraw from The Dubai Duty Free Open this week and go for more medical treatments. Looking forward to reconnect with All on the court for the US swing. Thank you for tour continuous support," Jabeur wrote.
Ons Jabeur has struggled with injury throughout the Middle East swing, where she wanted to play all the tournaments this year. She first competed at the Abu Dhabi Open and won her second-round match against Emma Raducanu before losing to Beatriz Haddad Maia in the quarterfinals.
The former World No. 2 then headed to the WTA 1000 Qatar Open. However, her stay in Doha was short, as she lost to Lesia Tsurenko in her second-round match. Jabeur was struggling with her knee during her match against Tsurenko.
Ons Jabeur expressed fitness concerns before Dubai Tennis Championships withdrawal
Ons Jabeur talked about her fitness concerns before withdrawing from the Dubai Tennis Championships. The Tunisian said that she is wrestling with a dilemma where her heart wants to play, but her body is not allowing her to do so. The 29-year-old added that sometimes she needs to make decisions that her heart does not agree with.
"I think it's the worst decision you can take because my heart wants to play and my body is not allowing so much. I feel like I need to take the right decision and sometimes you have to take decisions where your heart is not agreeing with it. But all I know is that I'm doing my best to be ready for this tournament and be ready to play here and compete in front of amazing fans," she told The National.
Jabeur has not played much tennis in 2024, competing in only three tournaments so far. The World No. 6 did not play any warmup tournaments prior to the Australian Open and then lost to Russian prodigy Mirra Andreeva in the second round in Melbourne.