Ons Jabeur Struggles to a First-Round Win on the U.S. Open

As Camila Osorio hugged Ons Jabeur on the internet following their match on Tuesday, she nearly appeared as if she had been holding Jabeur upright. Jabeur was exhausted and drained, sweat saturating her tennis uniform. She had managed to defeat Osorio, 7-5, 7-6 (4), however she was so weary and wobbly that Osorio requested her if she was OK.

“I told her, ‘Not really,’” Jabeur, a Tunisian seeded fifth in singles, mentioned in an on-court interview following her first-round victory on the U.S. Open.

Jabeur reached the ultimate at this match final 12 months and is a sentimental favourite of tennis followers worldwide. But these followers will probably be involved over whether or not Jabeur is wholesome sufficient to get again to the championship match. Last week, Jabeur talked about that she was affected by nasal congestion, nevertheless it appeared to have worsened considerably on Tuesday. She left the match grounds in Queens after her match and can have a day to get better earlier than she faces Linda Noskova, an unseeded 18-year-old Czech, within the second spherical on Thursday.

It has not been a easy a number of weeks for Jabeur since her loss to Marketa Vondrousova within the Wimbledon remaining in July. She took day without work after that demoralizing defeat, then performed the Western & Southern Open exterior Cincinnati, the place she gained two matches earlier than falling to Aryna Sabalenka in straight units. During that match, Jabeur wanted medical consideration for a foot damage.

That ailment didn’t appear to have an effect on her play towards Osorio, an unseeded Colombian, however Jabeur nonetheless wanted assist from a match physician throughout the match due to her sickness. She took some medication, and regardless that she was capable of stay upright and win, it was an apparent battle. She sweated via her garments and wanted a full change of uniform at one level, apologizing to Osorio on the internet for all of the delays.

“I know it is tough to play a player who is injured or not feeling well on the court,” Jabeur mentioned.

Playing in Louis Armstrong Stadium, Jabeur mentioned the viewers’s help helped her via the match, simply as Coco Gauff, the American star seeded sixth, mentioned the gang in Arthur Ashe Stadium helped her via her tightly contested match with Laura Siegemund of Germany on Monday. A protracted dispute over how lengthy Siegemund took to serve and to be in place to obtain Gauff’s serves ramped up the strain. The pro-Gauff crowd turned on Siegemund, who later mentioned she had been grossly mistreated.

“I have to say I am very, very disappointed of the way people treated me today,” she mentioned.

She added: “They had no respect for the player that I am. They have no respect for tennis, for good tennis. This is something that I have to say hurts really bad.”

Fans clapped when Siegemund missed her first serves, which isn’t thought of applicable decorum in tennis, and even Gauff signaled a number of occasions for the gang to cease. Also, even on robust rallies Siegemund gained, there have been occasions when nobody clapped for her.

By distinction, it was all love and respect on Tuesday in Armstrong Stadium, the place each Jabeur and Osorio performed with none pressure. When it was over, the followers sang “Happy Birthday” to Jabeur, who turned 29 on Monday.

“I’m feeling blessed to have all of this,” Jabeur informed the followers. “For me, it’s more important than to win any match because I know that any love you get from people you will cherish until the end of your life, not your career.”