Ons Jabeur claims it’s ‘unbearable to play’ after Dubai’s withdrawal
Ons Jabeur has been forced to withdraw from the Dubai Tennis Championships, revealing her knee injury has become too painful to compete.
Jabeur has been dealing with issues related to her right knee for some time and the Tunisian underwent surgery last year which forced her to miss the Middle East swing.
While playing in the quarter-finals of the Abu Dhabi Open this year, Jabeur broke down in tears against Beatriz Haddad Maia, which she later revealed was due to her recurring knee problems.
Despite this, Jabeur traveled to Doha for the Qatar Open with a straight sets loss to Ukraine’s Lesia Tsurenko.
And now the two-time Wimbledon finalist has confirmed her withdrawal from the WTA 1000 event in Dubai, “Dear friends and family, I wanted to share with you that my knee is not holding me, it has been unbearable to play in pain and not The I can give my best on the pitch it’s disappointing.
“After consultation with my doctors and team, we have decided that I will have to withdraw from Dubai this week and go for more medical treatments. I look forward to reconnecting with everyone on the courts for the USA swing. Thank you for your continued support. I love you, Ons.”
Jabeur has since been replaced by lucky loser Cristina Bucsa and the tournament has now released a statement of its own regarding the world No.6’s exit, “Unfortunately Ons Jabeur has had to withdraw from this year’s tournament. We know how much this event means to her, playing in front of a strong Arab support.
“We wish her all the best in her recovery from her injury and look forward to seeing her back in Dubai very soon.”
Jabeur will take part to compete in Indian Wells in California, which begins on Sunday, March 3.
Inside the baseline…
From the start of the season, it was clear that Ons Jabeur was not feeling well and it showed in the Tunisian’s form, having won just two of their five matches. Jabeur probably shouldn’t have played the Middle Eastern swing, but after missing it last year he probably felt more pressure to at least try to deliver. Hopefully, Jabeur can use this time to recover, but it’s very concerning that the surgery doesn’t seem to have fixed the problem.
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