"Next Gen" - Ons Jabeur jokes after spending time with Tatjana Maria's kids during Zhengzhou Open
Ons Jabeur spent some time on the court with her friend Tatjana Maria's kids during the ongoing Zhengzhou Open.
Jabeur is seeded fourth at the WTA 500 event, thus receiving a bye to the second round of the tournament. Ahead of her fixture, the Tunisian spent some time with Maria's kids and shared an image of herself with them on her Instagram stories.
The World No. 7 also jokingly called the German's oldest daughter Charlotte "next gen".
Ons Jabeur is quite close with Tatjana Maria and her family after the German claimed at Wimbledon last year.
"It would be really nice to play Ons because she is really part of my family,” Maria said. “She is part of my family, she loves my kids, she is playing with them every day."
Jabeur and Maria have faced one another twice so far in the main draw of the WTA Tour, with their head-to-head tied at 1-1. Their most recent encounter came in the semifinals of last year's Wimbledon Championships, with the Tunisian winning 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the final, where she lost to Elena Rybakina.
Both players are in the main draw of the Zhengzhou Open, with Maria losing 6-1, 6-3 to Liudmila Samsonova in the first round. Jabeur will take on Lucia Bronzetti in the second round in what will be the second meeting between the two.
The winner of the match will face either eighth seed Daria Kasatkina or Bai Zhuoxuan in the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 tournament.
Ons Jabeur qualifies for WTA Finals 2023
Ons Jabeur booked her place in the WTA Finals for the second year in a row. The Tunisian, along with Marketa Vondrousova and Karolina Muchova, were the last three players to qualify for the year-end tournament in Cancun. The others who've already qualified include Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, and Elena Rybakina
Jabeur made her WTA Finals debut last season as the second seed but endured a disappointing tournament. She won just one out of three round-robin matches and finished second, thus getting eliminated. Her only win of the competition came against Jessica Pegula while losing to Maria Sakkari and eventual runner-up Aryna Sabalenka.
The Tunisian has won 34 out of 49 matches so far this season and is currently seventh in the WTA rankings.