Tunisian tennis star Ons Jabeur revealed she was troubled by her knee injury throughout her Abu Dhabi Open quarterfinal loss and admitted that it was something that made her sad and disappointed.
Jabeur, who was the No. 2 seed and home favorite in Abu Dhabi, saw her hopes of winning it all in the United Arab Emirates come to an end on Friday after losing 3-6 4-6 to Beatriz Haddad Maia.
With Haddad Maia up by a set and preparing to serve for a 5-3 lead, Jabeur started crying. At that point, it became pretty evident that Jabeur was struggling with something. However, Jabeur refused to quit, instead playing out the match.
After the match, world No. 6 Jabeur revealed that her longstanding knee injury reappeared in Abu Dhabi.
“We go way back with the knee; some tournaments it’s good, some tournaments it’s bad,” Jabeur revealed, via The National.
“I’ve been feeling it for the past week but today was the worst day. Usually during practice I try to manage but during matches, it’s a bit tougher.”
Ons Jabeur© Getty Images Sport – Christopher Pike
Jabeur: I’m sad, I was starting to feel good and this happened
For Jabeur, it was absolutely heartbreaking to see her knee issues reappear and prevent her from playing her best against Haddad Maia in front of Arab fans.
“I’m a bit sad because I was starting to feel my game and feel good, and these injuries don’t help. The priority now is to find the solution to try and keep up and hopefully I can do it,” Jabeur said.
“I love how the people here cheer for me. I always feel sad when I lose because I want to win in front of them, I want to win for the kids but that’s tennis. I try to do my best.”
Ons Jabeur© Getty Images Sport – Christopher Pike
Meanwhile, Jabeur is scheduled to play in Doha next week, where she is the No. 4 seed and has a first-round bye. When asked about her upcoming schedule, Jabeur highlighted that she first needs to see “if my knee holds up” before making any definitive statements.
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