"She can understand how it's like to be a Muslim on tour, how to be a player, one of a kind from Tunisia or India" - Ons Jabeur on Sania Mirza
World No. 10 Ons Jabeur has lavished rich praise on Sania Mirza and her career after the six-time doubles Grand Slam champion announced her plans to retire at the end of the 2022 season.
The Tunisian was speaking to the press after her 6-4, 6-3 loss to Simona Halep in the quarterfinals in Dubai. When asked to talk about good friend and fellow Muslim Sania Mirza, Jabeur pointed out that they both have plenty of similarities despite hailing from different cultures.
"I have a lot in common with Sania [Mirza]," Jabeur said. "She can understand how it is like to be a Muslim on tour, how to be a player, one of a kind from Tunisia or India. Obviously, we have different cultures, but I think if you see, there is a lot of similarity in both of us."
"We always chat. I feel like she can really understand me. I'm not sure if I speak to American or French, it could be the same. She's a great player. We talk about so many topics. I can stay for hours talking about it," she added.
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Sania Mirza, an illustrious doubles player, is the first and only Indian woman to win a Grand Slam and become World No. 1 in any category. Ons Jabeur has similarly been a trailblazer for Tunisian tennis and became the first Arab woman to crack the top 10 in the WTA singles rankings last year.
The duo have even taken to the court together by pairing up for the doubles in Cincinnati in 2021. During her presser, Jabeur went on to hail Mirza as an "inspiration for all" and expressed her hope of seeing the Indian on the WTA tour in some other capacity in the future.
"We're really good friends. I love her son a lot," the 27-year-old said. "She's such a nice person, such an inspiration for all of us. I had the chance to play doubles with her. I'm not at her level doubles-wise. But it's good to have her on tour. I hope we can see her more on tour after being a tennis player, maybe being a coach or something."
"I'm really looking forward to playing in Doha" - Ons Jabeur
Ons Jabeur had a problematic start to the season with a back injury she sustained in Sydney forcing her to withdraw from the Australian Open. Nevertheless, the Tunisian is looking to draw confidence from her quarterfinals in Dubai in her first tournament since the injury.
She believes getting more matches under her belt will be key to regaining complete fitness and is hence looking forward to playing in Doha next week.
"Just a matter of playing more matches and being ready," Jabeur said. "I think physically it will take a lot of time. My main goal is to get back on court and kind of have the same fitness that I had before. Obviously I need time. Those things don't happen very quickly. But, yeah, I'm really looking forward to play in Doha."
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