Wimbledon: ‘I’m enjoying every moment’, says Ons Jabeur
New Delhi, July 6 – Last year’s runners-up Ona Jabeur is enjoying her time at Wimbledon so far after reaching the third round of the tournament with successive straight wins in the opening matches.
Tunisian tennis player said her playing style suits grass courts and she hopes to do well in the ongoing Grand Slam.
“It’s an honour for me, representing my country and my continent. Obviously, there’s a bit of pressure, but it’s a good pressure, a good responsibility to send a positive message. I hope I’m doing it well. I will continue doing that. I hope I can inspire more and more and see more players from my country and my continent being here. I am enjoying every moment, and I love playing on grass so much that my game really suits this beautiful court. I’m just trying to be here, enjoy every moment, enjoy the crowd, the love of the crowd, and prepare like I prepared for the other years,” Jabeur told Star Sports.
Talking about her wish to visit India soon, she said, “I need just 2 million more Indian fans, please, follow me. I need to go, seriously, I need to go to India. I’ve never been there. This is one of the items on my bucket list. My fans in India, I’m looking forward to coming one day. I really love the country and I want to discover it more and more. So when I have time, I really want to go and enjoy it there. It’s coming from the heart, really. And Sania (Mirza) will be there.”
American tennis player and current world no.2 Coco Gauff shared her thoughts on dealing with emotions and expectations coming into Wimbledon.
“Just treating it and enjoying it, honestly. I think there’s always going to be expectations put on me, but I take it as an honour. I think if people expect big things from you, that means you’re doing something right, so hopefully I can continue to do things right,” she said.
Reflecting on her US Open win and aspirations for Wimbledon, she added, “It would mean a lot, especially here at Wimbledon; it’s probably the most prestigious tournament we have, and it would be an honour to maybe hold that trophy. But if not, I would love to at least win another slam to get that feeling again.”
Jabeur will take on Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the third-round clash on Saturday while Gauff will lock horns with countrymate Emma Navarro in the round of 16 match on Sunday.
