Ons Jabeur pays her condolences after massive earthquake kills over 2,000 people in Morocco
Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur shared her grief over the deadly tragedy that unfolded in Morocco after a massive earthquake claimed numerous lives on Friday, September 8.
A powerful earthquake of 6.8 magnitude shook the ground in southwestern Morocco, with its epicenter located near Marrakech, a city of about 840,000 people. The quake jolted the High Atlas mountain range, and tremors were felt in Casablanca, a major tourist hub, and capital city of Rabat.
Rescue efforts are on to retrieve survivors and victims from heaps of debris. Officials have so far confirmed the deaths of over 2,000 people, with thousands more wounded and still missing. The World Health Organisation says the natural disaster has affected nearly 3,00,000 people in Marrakech and surrounding areas.
Ons Jabeur, the highest-ranked tennis player, male or female, from Africa and the Middle East, took to Instagram to pay condolences to the victims. Morocco and Jabeur's home nation of Tunisia are both located in the northern part of Africa.
Ons Jabeur has often been hailed for her efforts to promote tennis in Africa and the Middle East region.
She has broken and set several tennis records in the region, including being the first woman from Arab to play a singles final at a Grand Slam, which she did on three occasions (2022 and 2023 Wimbledon and 2022 US Open), as well as winning a singles title on the WTA tour.
Jabeur has four career titles so far.
Ons Jabeur's US Open 2023 run ends in fourth round
Ons Jabeur recently concluded her campaign at the 2023 US Open in the fourth round on September 5. The Tunisian was swept aside by Qinwen Zheng of China, 6-2, 6-4. Jabeur dropped more than 1,000 points after being unable to defend her points after reaching the final in New York last year (losing to Iga Swiatek).
The 29-year-old struggled physically throughout her time at the year's last Grand Slam and was spotted having trouble breathing during her four matches. She had to dig deep in all her contests at Flushing Meadows, laboring past Camila Osorio Serrano (7-5, 7-6(4)), Linda Noskova (7-6 (7), 4-6, 6-3), and No. 31 seed Marie Bouzkova (5-7, 7-6(5), 6-3).
Injuries have hampered Jabeur's 2023 season, allowing her to only compete in 13 tournaments this year. She could not defend her 2022 titles at the WTA 500 Berlin Open and the WTA 1000 Madrid Open. However, the 29-year-old did manage to triumph at the WTA 500 Charleson Open and reach another Grand Slam final at the Wimbledon Championships.
Jabeur is next scheduled to play at the San Diego Open, where she is the top seed.