Indian Wells Masters: Ons Jabeur becomes first Arab to reach in top 10: Ons Jabeur is on a spree of creating history as she will become the first Arab player to crack the top 10 of the world rankings after reaching the Indian Wells semifinals on Thursday and the Tunisian says she has just getting started.
Ons Jabeur, currently ranked 14th, reached the final of the Chicago Fall Tennis Classic earlier this month and became the first Arab player to win a WTA title at the Birmingham Classic in June.
Indian Wells Masters: Ons Jabeur enters semis in Indian Wells, set to become first Arab in top 10
The 27-year-old defeated Estonia’s Anett Kontaveit 7-5, 6-3 in Thursday’s quarterfinal in the California desert, converting five of her 12 break-point chances on the way to her 48th match win of the season, the most of any player on the Tour this season.
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“Like this is a dream coming true. This is something that I’ve been wanting… when I was 16,” Ons Jabeur said.
“Top 10 is the beginning. I know I deserve this place for a long time since I was playing well. But I want to prove that I deserve to be here.”
Indian Wells Masters: Jabeur will face Paula Badosa in semifinals
Ons Jabeur, who will face Spain’s Paula Badosa in her first WTA 1000 semi-final on Friday, said she faced many obstacles in her career because of her background.
“I’ve been rejected by sponsors because of where I come from, which is so not fair. I didn’t understand why before, I accepted it. I am really proud of the person I became today, just not relying on others,” Ons Jabeur added.
Indian Wells Masters: Ons Jabeur enters semis in Indian Wells, set to become first Arab in top 10
Jabeur further talked about the obstacles she had to face. “Everybody probably had a difficult career. I’m not saying I have the most difficult one. I didn’t want to depend on a sponsor or someone who doesn’t even care about tennis or sport in general. It gave me the courage to continue and achieve my goals, and I’m in top 10 today,” she explained.
