Ons Jabeur and Alexander Zverev attend F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Ons Jabeur and Alexander Zverev are enjoying the off-season and are currently in the United Arab Emirates to witness the Formula 1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Both players ended their tennis seasons at the year-end championships and are now relaxing and getting ready for the 2024 tours. Recently, they attended the qualifying race for the F1 Abu Dhabi GP 2023 on November 25.
Ons Jabeur shared pictures and videos from her time at the race on Instagram. She watched the contest from the official Etihad paddock alongside her manager, Adel Aref. Etihad's official Instagram account shared a video of Jabeur and Aref watching the race alongside the caption:
"Catching the race vibes from the Etihad Paddock."
Alexander Zverev was also spotted in Lewis Hamilton's garage. He shared images of the garages of Alpine's Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon, Haas' Nico Hulkenberg, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, and Reb Bull's Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen. Zverev was accompanied by his regular doubles partner, Marcelo Melo of Brazil.
Max Verstappen claimed the pole position in qualifying at the year's last race, finishing in 1:23:445. Charles Leclerc finished in second place with Oscar Piastri in third. The main race will be held on November 26 at the Yas Marina Circuit.
Ons Jabeur bowed out of the 2023 WTA Finals in the group stage
Ons Jabeur qualified for her second consecutive WTA Finals after a season that saw her battle through injuries and physical issues to lift a couple of titles and make her third Grand Slam finals appearance. The Tunisian was seeded No. 6 at the WTA Finals in Cancun and was drawn alongside Iga Swiatek, Coco Gauff, and Marketa Vondrousova in the group stages.
Ons Jabeur was swept aside in the opening contest by Gauff 6-0, 6-1. She recovered in the second match against Vondrousova, winning 6-4, 6-3, to keep her hopes of knockout qualification alive. However, a ruthless Iga Swiatek dashed any hopes in the final group stage match, defeating Jabeur 6-1, 6-2, and ending her stay in the competition.
2023 was a stop-and-start season for Ons Jabeur. She began her year with a semi-final finish at the Adelaide International 1. This was followed by a surprising second-round exit at the Australian Open, where she was the No. 2 seed. The 29-year-old suffered a right knee injury soon after, which required surgery and forced her to miss the entire Middle East swing.
Ons Jabeur returned to action in March. The Tunisian claimed her fourth career title at the Charleston Open. She did not drop a single set throughout the tournament and defeated Belinda Bencic in the title contest. Jabeur registered her best result at the French Open by reaching the quarter-final.
Then came Wimbledon, where she was the runner-up last year. Seeded No. 6, Jabeur defeated four former Grand Slam champions, Bianca Andreescu, Petra Kvitova, Elena Rybakina, and Aryna Sabalenka, on the way to her third Major final. However, her hopes of lifting a Grand Slam title were ended by Marketa Vondrousova who won the contest 6-4, 6-4.
Ons Jabeur won her fifth WTA Tour title and first on the hard court at the Ningbo Open in China. She ended her year as the World No. 6 with a 36 to 17 win-loss ratio.